MK Nir Orbach on Thursday announced his retirement from politics “for right now.”

Orbach warned that the right-wing bloc is still in danger of not receiving 61 mandates. “I suggest that all players wake up,” he warned in his announcement. “Personally, I intend to do everything I can, even outside the list, in order that the Religious Zionist sector will vote for the establishment of a right-wing government.”

In an interview with Ynet, Orbach said that he’s aware that he’s paying the price for being part of the Bennett-Lapid government, admitting that “at least some of our voters feel betrayed, so even if I think that our intentions were good, ultimately a large part of our voters feel that way, and therefore to a large extent this is also the price I’m paying for these things, for some of the mistakes we made over the past year. I accept this price.”

In an interview with Arutz Sheva earlier this week, Orback also warned about forming a government under Benny Gantz: “There should be an orderly plan and clear messages that Benny Gantz is not right-wing. Anyone who’s familiar with his attitude toward Israeli construction versus Palestinian construction in Area C understands this. No one knows what his position is on matters of religion and state.”

Unlike his former Yamina colleague, Idit Silman, who was granted a reserved slot in the Likud in recognition of her resignation from the coalition, which led to its downfall, Orbach has been left without a party.

Orbach stayed in the coalition after Silman left but eventually announced he will no longer vote with it. After he told Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that he plans on voting for the Knesset’s dispersal, Bennett realized that the coalition was doomed and together with Lapid, decided to preempt the move. Shortly later Bennett announced his decision to dissolve the Knesset and hand over the reins of the premiership to Yair Lapid.

Since Bennett preempted him, Orbach didn’t receive credit for the government’s downfall.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)