From the Liveblog of
Saturday, May 9, 2026
Former fire chief Dedi Simhi enters politics, says he has yet to choose party
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"
Former Israeli Fire and Rescue Services Commissioner Dedi Simhi throws his hat into the political ring, telling a conference in Rehovot that “the country needs to be straightened out and I have the credentials to deliver it.”
The Ynet news site quotes the former senior official, whose son, Staff Sgt. Guy Simhi was killed on October 7, as saying that he “will not run in the Likud primaries” and has not yet chosen a party, although he had yet to decide if he would accept the support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling party.
He adds that he will not boycott the next prime minister if whoever wins the upcoming election is a Zionist and calls “to fix the political culture,” arguing that today “politics in this country is now automatically associated with intrigue, corruption, and lack of professionalism, among other things, so good people don’t want to get involved.”
The Times of Israel Community.