From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Bismuth accuses opposition MKs of crossing ‘red line’ after they interrupt meeting
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth accuses opposition MKs of crossing a red line after several Yesh Atid MKs enter the committee staff area outside his office, apparently interrupting talks with representatives of the ultra-Orthodox parties.
Video from the scene shows several MKs, including committee members Elazar Stern and Moshe Tur-Paz, arguing with Degel HaTorah MK Uri Maklev outside of Bismuth’s private office, adjacent to the committee chamber. In the video, Tur-Paz can be seen picking up and photographing a document from a desk.
“A red line has been crossed! I have just summoned the Knesset Sergeant-at-Arms following the violent and forceful outburst by opposition members of Knesset who stormed my office at the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee,” Bismuth posts on X.
“Those same actors who warned about ‘the right wing storming the Knesset’ are the ones behaving today with bullying and vulgarity, attempting to turn a sovereign institution into lawless territory — including serious attempts to photograph committee documents unlawfully,” he says, adding that he plans on submitting a complaint to the Knesset Ethics Committee.
חברי הכנסת של יש עתיד התפרצו ללשכה של ח״כ ביסמוט כדי לעשות בלגן נגד הדיון הפנימי של החרדים על חוק הגיוס. תראו בסרטון המצורף את ח״כ משה טור פז, מרים מסמך שאינו שלו מהשולחן במשרד , מצלם בסלולרי והמשיך הלאה.
נאמר לי שזה מסמך סתמי עם רשימת חברי הוועדה.
נניח.
לכן זה בסדר? pic.twitter.com/T7bJRKy64w— יקי אדמקר (@YakiAdamker) January 28, 2026
The incident comes on the heels of a meeting earlier this afternoon between Bismuth, coalition whip Ofir Katz, and Degel HaTorah and Shas MKs Uri Maklev, Yaakov Asher and Yinon Azoulay.
Also reportedly in attendance were former Shas MK Ariel Attias, who represented the Haredi parties in negotiations over Bismuth’s bill, and committee legal adviser Miri Frenkel Shor, whose requested changes to the bill have sparked ultra-Orthodox pushback.
Yesh Atid chairman and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid slammed that meeting, accusing participants of having “set up an alternative Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for themselves” to exert “heavy pressure on [Shor], to push her to approve changes that the ultra-Orthodox parties want.”
Asked about the incident, Tur-Paz tells The Times of Israel that he and his colleagues had come to the committee room “to tell the Haredim and Bismuth: you will not strike a deal behind the backs of those who serve. We will not allow it.”
Sharing a copy of the photograph he took, which showed a list of committee members, Tur-Paz says that he snapped the shot “in an unclassified area,” adding that he did not break in.
The Times of Israel Community.