From the Liveblog of
Thursday, December 4, 2025
Likud attempt to block ‘Reservists’ party name reportedly fails
An attempt by the ruling Likud party to block the name of the new HaMiluimnikim (“The Reservists”) party has reportedly failed, the new party and Hebrew media report.
Yesterday, Ynet reported that Likud, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party, submitted a petition to the party registrar seeking to block the name “The Reservists.” Likud argued that the name “misleads” and “damages public order and feelings.”
Likud claimed that, because military reservists make up a significant slice of Israeli society, and because they hail from across backgrounds and ideological persuasions, the word is not an appropriate name for a political party.
“The term ‘reservist’ has become one that represents part of the Israeli experience, a term that has turned a group of people with varied characteristics into a national symbol representing unity,” reads a copy of the petition published by Ynet.
“The group of ‘reservists’ includes citizens from all parts of society — religious, secular, rural, urban… from different backgrounds, and citizens with different worldviews and political opinions.”
But Ynet reports that the registrar blocked the petition. HaMiluimnikim likewise said the attempt failed.
“The party registrar rejected Likud’s objection and announced the approval of the name of HaMiluimnikim,” the party says in a statement.
HaMiluimnikim’s chairman, former communications minister Yoaz Hendel, says in a statement that he welcomes the decision by the party registrar to reject the petition.
“The ruling party, which encourages draft dodging and harms the serving public, tried to prevent us from representing it. The term ‘reservists’ forces them to look into an uncomfortable mirror,” he says.
The dispute emerges as the Knesset debates the government’s latest bill regulating IDF conscription and exemptions for yeshiva students, proposed by Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth. HaMiluimnikim fiercely opposes the bill, and it has drawn vocal backlash, including from within Likud itself.
A spokesperson for Justice Minister Yariv Levin, under whose ministry the party registrar operates, told The Times of Israel yesterday that the minister “has no connection” to the petition and that he himself wasn’t even aware of it.
The Times of Israel Community.