Defense Minister Ehud Barak was expected to announce Monday his decision to step down from his position as Labor Party chairman, following months of turmoil within the weakened faction.
In the wake of waning support from his own party ministers, Barak was to announce the inception of a new faction of his own called Atzmaut (Independence). Four Labor colleagues - Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, and members of Knesset Shalom Simhon, Einat Wilf and Ori Noked – were to join Barak.
"We set out today toward independence," Barak told reporters in an official announcement to Knesset. "We are creating a faction, a movement and eventually a party that will be centrist, Zionist and democratic."
"The top priority [of this movement] will be first and foremost the state, then the party, and only at the end, us," Barak said. "We invite anyone who believes in this path to join."
The decision throws Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition into turmoil, though the number of breakaways is not enough to rob him of his parliamentary majority.
Barak is expected to remain in the coalition along with his four allies. It is not clear whether Labor's eight remaining lawmakers will support the government – particularly considering threats of late to quit the coalition over the stalled Middle East peace process.
With talks stalled for more than three months, an increasing number of Labor members had urged him to pull out of the government because of the impasse.
One member, Daniel Ben-Simon, quit the party last week to protest Barak's decision to remain in the government.
Barak's decision to quit the party is expected to bring to an end the months of internal strife that hindered Labor's political strength and sway in the Israeli government. In a separate statement, Barak's deputy, Vilnai said that leaving Labor would enable the new faction members to pursue peace "without a stopwatch".
Netanyahu lashed out at the Labor ministers at Sunday's cabinet meeting, saying that the Palestinians were refusing to return to negotiations with Israel because of Labor's threats to leave the coalition.
The premier also said the Palestinians were hardening their positions because of certain remarks by Labor ministers.
Although Netanyahu was said to be concerned by increasing demands within the Labor Party to leave the government, he refused a request Barak's request to report on the status of negotiations to alleviate some of the political pressure. "My job is to get results, not to report," Netanyahu reportedly told Barak.