From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
Edelstein to oppose immunity for fellow Likud MK Gotliv who exposed Shin Bet agent’s identity
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"
MK Yuli Edelstein says he will vote against granting immunity to fellow Likud lawmaker Tally Gotliv for repeatedly exposing the identity of a Shin Bet officer.
“If the Arab Knesset members were to expose the names of Mossad agents and Shin Bet personnel, would we stay silent then too?” the former chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee asks in a post on X.
“I will vote today in favor of removing MK Gotliv’s immunity,” he says, arguing that the vote is not about picking sides between a coalition lawmaker and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, whose office indicted Gotliv.
Edelstein argues that if Gotliv is granted immunity, then Arab lawmakers or members of the far left could engage in the same behavior: “Everything has consequences.”
“The issue is not Gotliv or Baharav-Miara. The issue is those people in our intelligence agencies whose names the people of Israel do not know, whose work they are unaware of, and it is better that way,” he says. “We owe them a great debt. Think about that for a moment before the vote.”
The vote in the committee to grant Gotliv immunity was supported by all coalition members of the Knesset House Committee.
Edelstein is the only coalition member to say he will vote against the measure in the plenum.
The Times of Israel Community.