Ayalon quits Labor, but won't join Oron's new left-wing party

MK Ami Ayalon is leaving the Labor Party, but he won't be joining Meretz chairman Haim Oron's new left-wing list.

The two had been discussing the issue for the past several weeks. Ayalon requested the first or second slot on the party list, and asked that a poll be held to determine whether he or Oron would lead, according to sources involved in the negotiations.

However, last night he told Oron he would not be joining.

During the press conference he called Sunday to announce his resignation from Labor, Ayalon denied having asked for a top spot - and used the opportunity to criticize the party he was leaving.

"I can't convince even those who are closest to me to vote for Labor. Labor has lost its way," Ayalon said. Party chairman Ehud Barak, he said, "was supposed to be the solution - and the past year and a half have shown me that he is not the solution."

Ayalon said his resignation from the party does not mean he is planning to give up his position as a minister or Knesset member, "since I am interested in finishing a few more things." Ayalon is a minister without portfolio.

As of Sunday, Ayalon still did not know what his next stop would be, but he is expected to reach an agreement with Meimad that will put him at the party's head.

Meimad is a dovish religious Zionist party that sits with Labor in the Knesset.