Likud to vote Wednesday to replace Edelstein at helm of powerful Knesset panel

Likud will hold a ballot Wednesday to select a new chair for the powerful Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, following mounting pressure to replace party MK Yuli Edelstein, seemingly the last bastion standing in the way of the Haredi parties’ long-sought draft exemption bill for yeshiva students.

The premier has been under growing pressure from within Likud to oust Edelstein after the two Haredi parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, left the government last week.

A decision was taken Tuesday to conduct the vote in secret, after a request was submitted by MKs supporting rival candidate Boaz Bismuth and was backed by at least 10 percent of the faction — the threshold required under Likud rules — according to a report by the Kan public broadcaster. Signatories included Bismuth, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, and MKs Moshe Saada and Osher Shekalim.

However, the Likud’s legal adviser determined on Wednesday morning that the vote would be held in public.

According to the Kan report, Edelstein, who is running for the position again, had proposed the secret ballot, thinking that he would receive backing from colleagues who may be reluctant to defy Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly. However, a coalition insider told The Times of Israel that this would likely not help him retain the chairmanship.

A secret ballot had also appealed to other candidates, including Bismuth, who currently serves on the committee and who the coalition insider said was likely to win the race.

Conflicting reports had suggested that Bismuth was under pressure to withdraw from the race in favor of Hanoch Milwidsky, who doesn’t serve on the committee, and whose candidacy has been opposed by many Likud MKs who argue he is unqualified.

Milwidsky has also been reported to be Netanyahu’s preferred candidate, which, according to a coalition insider, isn’t entirely accurate.

“Two initiatives surfaced at the same time and led to a chain of events,” they said. First, elections for the position were triggered by Milwidsky challenging Edelstein using a clause in the party constitution. Then, a letter signed by ministers and MKs demanding Edelstein’s removal was circulated.

“The prime minister didn’t fire Edelstein. He could have just demanded that [Edelstein] resign had he wanted to,” they continued.

They added that Netanyahu, who has been home for three days recovering from food poisoning and has not publicly commented on the matter, might have actually blocked Milwidsky from issuing the challenge if not for the timing of the letter.

Edelstein unbowed

On Tuesday, a day before the vote that could end his tenure as chairman of the committee, Edelstein met in the Knesset with reservist organizations and made clear he was not backing away from his stance on the draft exemption bill.

“Sitting in an air-conditioned room and opposing a draft-evasion law is a bit easier than doing reserve duty in Gaza, Syria, or anywhere else,” Edelstein told the reservists. “So, truly, thank you.”

He stressed that he remained committed to passing a meaningful conscription law — even as he campaigns to retain his post as chair of the committee.

“We will continue. We can debate this or that clause in the legislation, but the goal remains the same: to finally pass a real draft law — one that will truly bring more soldiers into the ranks of the Israel Defense Forces,” he said.

Quoting a teaching attributed to Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, Israel’s first chief rabbi, Edelstein added: “You can walk the deck of a ship a little forward, a little backward, but it doesn’t change the direction of the ship. This ship is moving forward, and we will advance to our common goal: real enlistment.”

The IDF Reservist Coalition, representing tens of thousands of soldiers, presented a new framework for a conscription law to Edelstein and other lawmakers on Tuesday, urging decision-makers to prioritize input from those actually serving.

“In the midst of one of the most painful and challenging crises in Israeli society, one that directly impacts all of our security, the Reservist Coalition is calling for something simple: Maybe it’s time to listen to the reservists themselves?” Alon Tirer, one of the group’s leaders, said in a post on X.

Their proposal was submitted to members of Knesset from both the coalition and the opposition, with the aim of promoting it as a comprehensive legislative proposal and garnering support from all factions.

Widespread opposition

The attempt to oust Edelstein has drawn sharp criticism from opposition leaders, who have accused Netanyahu of putting political survival ahead of national interests.

“What’s happening here is unprecedented,” Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman said, speaking at a conference hosted by the Israel Democracy Institute on Tuesday. “The chairman of the most important committee in the Knesset is being ousted, not due to incompetence or a change in government, but because he acts contrary to a political agenda.”

Liberman said that removing Edelstein over the draft issue — in the middle of a war and at a time when the army says it is short 12,000 soldiers — sends the wrong message.

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for IDF service but have not enlisted. Currently, only around 1,800 Haredim enlist annually.

“The decision will ultimately go to the High Court of Justice, but in the meantime, we must give as little legitimacy as possible to a government of draft dodgers,” he said.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid warned Monday that if Edelstein is pushed out, opposition members on the committee will step down in protest.

“I announce here to the prime minister: if Yuli Edelstein is removed from his position, the opposition members serving on the committee will resign,” Lapid declared before a Yesh Atid faction meeting.

He said that Edelstein’s removal is a blatant political maneuver by Netanyahu to advance a “draft-dodging law” to accede to the demands of the ultra-Orthodox parties.

The winner of Likud’s internal vote on Wednesday will still require approval by the Knesset House Committee and the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee itself.