War of words in Likud as Gotliv accuses Levin of ‘one image of failure after another’

By Sam Sokol 20 December 2025, 9:51 pm

Edit

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 MK Tally Gotliv appears at a High Court hearing over the probe into the Sde Teiman leak affair, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, November 27, 2025. (Flash90)

Likud MK Tally Gotliv launches a full-throated attack on Justice Minister Yariv Levin after Channel 12 reports that he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss how to handle the firebrand lawmaker ahead of next year’s elections.

In a lengthy post on X, Gotliv says that Netanyahu “has not discussed [me] with anyone, certainly not with a minister who provides one image of failure after another.”

According to Channel 12, Netanyahu complained to Levin that Gotliv is costing Likud 3-5 Knesset seats, a claim denied by the Prime Minister’s Office.

But Gotliv writes that the prime minister “knows that the higher I place in the primaries, the more I will strengthen the Likud list and draw votes from right-wing parties to Likud.”

“Likud’s right-wing voters are very smart and perceptive, and not confused at all,” she claims.

A spokesman for Levin declined to comment.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin attends a plenum session at the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, November 19, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Gotliv is well-known for interrupting Knesset proceedings and verbally lashing out at people, ranging from fellow legislators to security guards. Her pugnacious approach to politics has made her one of the Knesset’s more recognizable backbenchers and may be responsible for turning her into a rising star within the ruling party.

A recent poll of Likud members published by the Walla news site found that Gotliv, who entered the Knesset at the 25th slot on the party’s slate, would come in second in a non-leadership primary, after current speaker Amir Ohana.

She is also a vocal opponent of Levin’s, having criticized him publicly on multiple occasions.

Should she ride her popularity to a top spot in Likud following the election, Gotliv told The Times of Israel in September that she could be “a very good justice minister” who would confront the judiciary.

Gotliv also recently publicly feuded with fellow Likud MK Eliyahu Revivo, who last week asked her to leave the Knesset plenum after she repeatedly interrupted other lawmakers, leading her to yell that he was a “thug.”