Gantz-led faction calls Edelstein committee ouster ‘unprecedented, dangerous’

By Sam Sokol 4 August 2025, 6:03 pm

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Sam 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 attends a Knesset House Committee meeting meeting in Jerusalem, on August 4, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The removal of Yuli Edelstein as chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is an “unprecedented and dangerous step” that will both pave the way for both the passage of legislation exempting Haredim from military service and “severely weaken the Knesset,” Benny Gantz’s Blue and White-National Unity party warns.

“Let every committee chair from the coalition know that they may pay with their position if they dare to go against the coalition’s unity, even if it is the right thing for the country,” the opposition party says in a statement after the Knesset House Committee votes in favor of replacing Edelstein with fellow Likud MK Boaz Bismuth.

“We call on our colleagues, the Likud MKs and especially Boaz Bismuth, the incoming committee chair: Do not lend a hand to the continued recklessness at the expense of those who serve. The responsibility from now on is on you,” it adds.