Likud MK booted from Knesset committee after voting against extending reservist call-ups

Likud lawmaker Amit Halevi is removed from the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee after voting against a measure to extend the government’s ability to issue emergency call-up orders for IDF reservists on Sunday, causing it to fail.

“If soldiers die, I cannot vote in favor,” Halevi told Channel 12 at the time, signaling frustration with the government’s military strategy.

After the measure initially fell in a committee vote last week, it was then voted on for a second time and passed, but with the extension limited to just seven days. Therefore, the measure must be approved by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday in order to take effect.

According to Hebrew media reports, Halevi will be replaced on the committee by coalition whip and fellow Likud MK Ofir Katz.

In a statement, Halevi says that it was not he who was dismissed, but rather “the voice of thousands of officers and soldiers who are willing to sacrifice, who are dedicated to the war but only for the sake of a complete victory.”

“Unfortunately, the new ‘Gideon’s Chariots’ plan may extract a terrible price from us, but according to this plan, aid will continue to reach Hamas, it will continue to control a large area and population, and thus the enemy will not be defeated,” he says.

“After 20 months of operational failure at a huge bloody cost, it is my responsibility and that of every Knesset member to ensure that the IDF has learned its lessons before voting in favor of sending soldiers into battle,” Halevi insists — pledging that as long as he remains in the Knesset, “I will fulfill my duties without fear.”

Halevi is not the first Likud MK to be removed from the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for opposing the coalition on an enlistment-related issue.

Last November, Ofir Katz announced MK Dan Illouz’s replacement due to his “statements regarding coalition discipline and his conduct in recent days” — a reference to his public opposition to the coalition-supported Daycare Bill, which aimed to guarantee that the children of ultra-Orthodox men who are obligated to perform military service, but have not done so, would continue to be eligible for state-funded daycare subsidies.