Likud’s Gotliv says not in talks with any other party, Netanyahu ‘stabbed me in the back’

MK Tally Gotliv denies holding talks with other parties after declaring on Monday that she was willing to consider leaving Likud because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “seeking to politically eliminate” her.

“I am not in negotiations with any party,” Gotliv tells The Times of Israel when asked about a Channel 12 report that said she was in talks to jump factions and that Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben Gvir is considering giving her a spot on his slate should she leave Likud.

Gotliv also tells Radio Kol Barama that she believes Netanyahu “stabbed me in the back.”

She accuses Likud of sidelining female candidates and declares that “no one is more loyal than I am to the prime minister and the Likud party,” in a series of follow-up posts on X.

“It is the prime minister and his advisers who are working to exclude me from Likud, completely contrary to the will of the voters,” she declares. She alleges that Netanyahu is backing off from efforts to curb the power of the judiciary.

Yesterday Gotliv wrote on X, following her poor showing in the Likud party primary two weeks ago: “My dedication to the prime minister and to the right-wing government has always been immense. I literally threw myself on the barbed wire for the prime minister and the right-wing government. I do not expect applause, but I certainly will not agree to be treated as a doormat.”

She accused Netanyahu of “accepting the advice of those around him and seeking to politically eliminate me in the primaries.” She said he “excluded me from the Likud campaign” and has “chosen to push me to a hidden corner in the background,” and that the party continues to “portray me as a weakening force within Likud.”

In recordings broadcast by Channel 12 on Monday, Gotliv could be heard alleging that Netanyahu had accepted a deal for a pardon in his ongoing corruption trial in exchange for dropping the judicial reform.

Likud rejected the allegation, saying Gotliv’s allegation was “a complete lie without any basis whatsoever.”

Gotliv is currently slated to be in the 20th spot on the Likud party list. She came 12th in the primary but was pushed down due to the large number of reserved slots granted to Netanyahu.

According to Hebrew media reports, the premier’s push for reserved slots was based on concerns that the primary could elevate controversial candidates who are highly popular among the Likud base such as Gotliv. Following the primary, Gotliv alleged fraud, claiming that her name had been left off ballots at some polling stations.

The final deadline for parties to submit their electoral lists to the Knesset is September 8. Recent polls have predicted Likud will win 19-22 seats in the October 27 national election.