Opposition lawmakers slam selection of Bismuth as next defense committee head

By Sam Sokol 23 July 2025, 6:31 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"

Likud MKs Boaz Bismuth (left) and Yuli Edelstein in the Knesset plenum, July 23, 2025. (Noam Moskowitz, Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)

Opposition politicians slam the Likud party’s choice of MK Boaz Bismuth to lead the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, replacing current chairman Yuli Edelstein.

“This is a dark day for the State of Israel and the people of Israel. Bismuth was elected to promote evasion and this is spitting in the face of the fighters, the reservists and their families,” says Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, alleging that Likud has “become a branch of the Haredim and the draft dodgers.”

Blue and White-National Unity chairman Benny Gantz declares that “Likud members decided to abandon our heroic fighters, to close their eyes to the challenges and security interests of the State of Israel — for the sake of political interest.”

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman states that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “once again chosen evasion at the expense of state security, all for petty politics.”

“We must put an end to the rule of the evaders,” he tweets.

The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan asserts that Edelstein’s dismissal during wartime is aimed solely at “entrenching mass draft evasion and institutionalized refusal. This is a betrayal of the IDF, its fighters and the people of Israel. The Likud has forgotten what it means to be soldiers.”

Meanwhile, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi welcomes Bismuth’s selection, while Likud MK Dan Illouz states that while “it was wrong to bring the resolution to a vote today,” he wishes Bismuth “great success in the critical role he has taken on.”

“Boaz already knows that I will also insist on a good and effective draft law that will bring about historic change and will not support any other law,” Illouz declares.