Netanyahu says he will back Likud MK Milwidsky to head Knesset finance panel

By Sam Sokol 23 July 2025, 1:56 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 Hanoch Milwidsky attends a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on November 25, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces that he will support the appointment of Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky as temporary chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee. This appears to signal that the premier no longer supports the lawmaker as a replacement for Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein.

The Likud faction is set to vote later today on replacing Edelstein as chair of the influential panel, following Milwidsky’s request for a vote. Milwidsky and fellow Likud MKs Nissim Vaturi, Boaz Bismuth, are vying for the position.

While Milwidsky was widely seen as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s preferred choice, his candidacy has been opposed by many Likud MKs who argue he is unqualified.