Idan Roll Quits Politics, Leaves Knesset Mid-Recess
Former Deputy Foreign Minister announces departure from Israeli politics, leaving his Knesset seat during recess. Attorney Adi Azuz set to replace him in parliament.
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MK Idan Roll announced Sunday morning that he is leaving the Knesset and stepping away from political life, roughly seven months after quitting the Yesh Atid party but retaining his seat as a one-man faction.
“I will not run in the next elections, and therefore I believe it is appropriate to leave now, at the start of the recess,” Roll wrote on X.
Yesh Atid chairman and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid was the first to respond, wishing Roll “great success in the future.” Roll will be replaced by attorney Adi Azuz, a women’s and disability rights activist, CEO of HaHatzar HaNashit and former legal adviser to the ALUT autism association.
Roll first entered the Knesset in 2019 and served intermittently over the past six years. A former head of Yesh Atid’s LGBTQ caucus, lawyer, model, and social activist, he was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister in 2021. In January, just days before releasing his book Opening the Club, Roll left Yesh Atid and formed his own faction, The National Majority. He was later officially designated as a “retired MK,” barring him from joining any party ahead of the next elections.
Reflecting on his career, Roll said:
“I had the privilege to serve the State of Israel and its citizens for more than six challenging years, five election cycles amid deep political and social crisis, a global pandemic, and a bloody war that began on October 7. In all my roles, I did my utmost to serve the people of Israel with dedication and love for the country.”
He noted his diplomatic work as Deputy Foreign Minister, focusing on strengthening Israel’s public diplomacy, building ties with a younger generation of world leaders, and advancing the Abraham Accords through technology and innovation.
Addressing criticism he faced in recent months, Roll said:
“I always told the truth and voiced difficult messages even when they were unpopular, out of a deep commitment to strengthening the State of Israel and the Jewish people. I pray that the next elections will bring a broad Zionist government that can leverage the unprecedented achievements of the war to shape a better future for our children in a new Middle East.”
He called for unity and a coalition of veteran and new political forces, stressing the need to close societal rifts and work for all citizens, and ended with an appeal on the hostage crisis:
“We must bring every single hostage home. This is a supreme value. An entire nation waits for them with broken hearts and longing eyes.”