From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, July 29, 2025
Knesset House Committee approves Likud MK Milwidsky as Finance Committee head despite rape allegations
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"
Members of the Knesset House Committee vote 9-6 to appoint Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky as chair of the Knesset Finance Committee despite an ongoing police investigation against him on suspicion of rape and witness tampering.
Milwidsky’s appointment must still be approved by members of the Finance Committee. He replaces MK Moshe Gafni, whose United Torah Judaism party quit the coalition earlier this month over its failure to pass a law exempting yeshiva students from military service.
“The coalition’s decision to appoint a man suspected of rape as chairman of the Finance Committee crosses a red line” and “normalizes harm to women,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares. “This is a misogynistic coalition that is tearing Israeli society apart.”
Milwidsky has denied wrongdoing and cast the investigation against him as a witch hunt.
The Times of Israel Community.