Another defector from Yesh Atid: MK Ron Katz resigns from Knesset

MK Ron Katz from Yesh Atid announced his resignation from the Knesset, the fourth defector from the party before the elections. He will be replaced by Muhammad Shoko Abu Al-Higa, an educator and social entrepreneur.

MK Ron Katz from Yesh Atid announced this morning (Sunday, July 26, 2026) his resignation from the Knesset and will not run in the upcoming elections. Katz is the fourth MK to defect from Yesh Atid before the elections, amid the merger with Naftali Bennett, following Yaron Levy, Boaz Toporovsky, and Idan Roll. Katz, first elected to the Knesset in 2021, said that public service was a mission and a great privilege for him, and thanked party chairman Yair Lapid and faction members. Replacing him in the Knesset for the election period is Muhammad Shoko Abu Al-Higa, an educator and social entrepreneur working in education, youth, and integrating young Arabs into Israeli society. Al-Higa, married and father of three daughters from Tamra, founded the youth movement Atidna, the first Arab-Zionist youth movement in Israel, and serves as director of the informal education department in the Tamra municipality, treasurer of the Association of Youth Departments in Israel, and head of the Arab headquarters in the Yesh Atid party.