Centre-left coalition leader Avi Gabbay says he will no longer partner with Tzipi Livni

Israel’s centre-left opposition alliance has broken up in a dramatic realignment of the country’s political battleground just months from a general election.

Avi Gabbay, the leader of a coalition of opposition parties, made the unexpected announcement live on television that he would no longer partner with veteran politician Tzipi Livni, even as she sat expressionless next to him. It was not clear if Livni had been told of the move.