Likud boots Edelstein from defense panel for ‘violations of faction discipline’

Coalition whip Ofir Katz on Wednesday informed fellow Likud MK Yuli Edelstein that he is being removed from his position on the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee effective immediately.

Katz explained that the decision was made after Edelstein voted in favor of a West Bank settlement annexation bill that was boycotted by the Likud party last week, as well due to as “his repeated violations of faction discipline.”

Edelstein broke ranks to vote in favor of the annexation bill, casting a decisive vote and helping it scrape by 25-24, embarrassing the Netanyahu government. In a statement, he said that he supported the measure because “Israeli sovereignty in all parts of our homeland is the order of the day” and called on “all Zionist factions to vote in favor.”

In addition to being removed from his post on the committee, Edelstein “will not be able to introduce private legislation and speak on behalf of the Likud faction in the plenum for two months,” Katz’s office said in a statement.

Both Edelstein’s spokesperson and a coalition insider had independently confirmed Edelstein’s pending ouster to The Times of Israel last week.

In a statement at the time, Edelstein said that “the public already knows that I am a man of my word.”

“If my entire sin was that I stood up for the Land of Israel and voted in favor of applying sovereignty to Judea and Samaria [the West Bank], then I am proud of that. Just as I am proud that I prevented [Haredi draft] evasion and that I am fighting for genuine ultra-Orthodox conscription,” the veteran lawmaker said in a statement.

“Even outside the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, I will continue to fight for equal conscription and for the Land of Israel. Any such dismissal is a moral badge of honor for me. Anyone who thinks that this deters me is greatly mistaken,” he added.

Edelstein was ousted as chairman of the powerful committee in July, after the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties quit the government over his proposed enlistment bill, which would have levied harsh sanctions on draft evaders. He was replaced as chairman by fellow Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, who is currently working on a new draft of the legislation.

It is widely believed that Likud is concerned Edelstein will vote against Bismuth’s bill in the committee.

After taking over the committee, Bismuth largely threw out Edelstein’s version of the bill — which the Haredi parties were deeply critical of — and started over. He has said that he believes Israelis must “strike a balance” between Torah study and military service and that Israel needs both soldiers and Torah students.

Bismuth’s proposal features reduced penalties for draft evasion and lowered requirements for draft exemption for yeshiva students, according to reports by Channel 12 news and other Hebrew media outlets on Tuesday evening. Participation in national service programs will be counted toward military service, mandatory appearances at draft offices will be canceled, and restrictions on overseas travel for draft evaders will apply only until age 26.

Responding to those reports, Edelstein criticized the plan, posting on X that he now understood “that those who ousted me were right to do so: I don’t have the skills to come up with a draft-dodging scheme in place of a conscription law — and in the midst of an existential war, when reservists are collapsing.”

Bismuth is set to officially present his plan during a committee meeting this coming Monday and has said that he intends to send it to the plenum for its final two readings in December.

While some Likud lawmakers have come out against Bismuth’s bill, others have been more supportive of Haredi efforts to preserve IDF exemptions for yeshiva students, with some saying that they believe full-time yeshiva students should be allowed to continue their studies without having to serve.

Asked for comment, a spokesman for Likud MK Moshe Saada, a critic of Bismuth’s legislation, said that “factional discipline regarding votes in the plenary should be absolute.”

Responding to Edelstein’s removal from the committee, Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz announced that he had instructed his party to make its parliamentary resources, both in the committee and in the Knesset more generally, available to the Likud lawmaker “to the extent he desires.”

“The coalition’s shameful decision only emphasizes how important MK Edelstein’s presence on the committee is. Neither he nor the voices that represent our children who serve can be silenced,” said Gantz.

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman made a similar offer, stating that Edelstein could use his party’s legislative quota to submit bills.

“While the Israeli government punishes MKs for Zionist positions and for fighting for equal sharing of the [military service] burden, Yisrael Beytenu will continue to support all those who fight for the values ​​of Zionism, sovereignty, and equality,” the party said in a statement.

“MK Edelstein acted correctly when he stood by these values, and we will not allow political punishment to silence courageous voices in the Knesset.”

Asked who would replace Edelstein on the committee, a spokeswoman for Katz said that had not yet been decided.

Edelstein is not the first Likud MK to be removed from the committee for opposing coalition policies. In November last year, freshman MK Dan Illouz was replaced due to his public opposition to a bill intended to prevent draft dodgers from losing government daycare subsidies.

And in May, MK Amit Halevi was kicked out after he voted against a measure to extend the government’s ability to issue emergency call-up orders for IDF reservists. Halevi was later reinstated as an alternate member of the committee.