Former Science and Technology Minister Yaakov Perry (Yesh Atid) is likely to bow out of the 20th Knesset, Channel 2 reports Monday – allowing former Hatnua MK Elazar Stern to take his place.

Perry, who is #5 on Yesh Atid’s list, is expected to make the decision just days before the swearing-in ceremony for the 20th Knesset, which is estimated to be set for Tuesday, March 31. 

Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid, who is very close to Perry, is expected to attempt to sway the former minister from leaving. 

Perry’s decision, if formally announced, apparently seems to stem from the fact that Yesh Atid will likely sit in the Opposition of a right-wing government led by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. 

The former minister is also a former chief of the Israel Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet); his tenure during the 19th Knesset was highlighted by a number of controversial moves, most notably halting a bill to stop terrorist releases by enforcing life sentences on terrorists convicted of murder.