A municipal leader in southern Israel resigned from the ruling Likud party on TV during a live broadcast on Channel 12, Wednesday night, saying he was doing so over the lack of long-promised governmental assistance for residents of the area.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Tamir Idan, the head of the Sdot Negev Regional Council (Photo: GPO)

Att. Tamir Idan is the head of the Sdot Negev Regional Council, which abuts the Gaza Strip and surrounds the town of Netivot and includes 16 communities. Idan made the announcement and calling on other Likud members to do the same. “I announce my resignation from the Likud party, and I place the blame on the Israeli government. I call here on all my friends, members of the Likud Central Committee, to take a similar step, in view of this incredible failure,” Idan said, reading from his resignation letter, which he sent Thursday to far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Idan had spoken with members of the Likud party, of which he is a long-time member, who had promised that aid would be forthcoming, and said he had been “certain” that this would happen, but it did not. “Nothing happened,” he said, adding that he was finding himself unable to respond to all the personal messages he was receiving from residents asking for help.

In the letter addressed to Netanyahu, Idan expressed his disappointment with the Israeli government’s actions during the war. He claimed that the government had failed to provide adequate tools and support to protect the security and resilience of the residents in the region. “I place all responsibility on the Israeli government and call on all my friends at the Likud Center to take a similar step in view of the massive failure.”

Idan’s decision to leave the Likud party comes as a surprise to many, as he has been an influential figure within the party for several years. His resignation from the Likud highlights growing dissatisfaction among senior members of the party regarding Netanyahu and government’s actions during the war.