From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, May 5, 2026
Wounded IDF reservist joins Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam 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"
IDF Capt. Israel Ben-Shitrit, an IDF reservist who served as a deputy company commander in the Alexandroni Brigade and was seriously wounded in battle in Gaza in early 2024, joins Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party.
In a statement, the party describes the 40-year old father of five from Yeruham as “an entrepreneur and a man of action” who has worked “to strengthen shared responsibility in Israeli society, to promote the rehabilitation of IDF wounded soldiers, and to deepen the connection between the State of Israel and Diaspora Jewry.”
As part of Yisrael Beytenu, he will “promote true equality” in conscription, “improve the rehabilitation system for IDF wounded, expand the response to post-trauma victims, and connect with Diaspora Jewry,” the party adds.
In his own statement, Ben-Shitrit says he is joining the party “to fight for true equality in the burden, to strengthen the warriors and the wounded in body and mind, the reservists, to strengthen Israeli society and to ensure that no one is left behind.”
Welcoming Ben-Shitrit, Liberman says that he “represents a generation of warriors who demand justice and equality of the burden,” a reference to the contentious IDF service exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox community.
Speaking with AFP last year, Ben-Shitrit said he was still haunted by the ghosts of the war he left behind.
“The scream of the soldier asking for rescue… no matter where I am, I will always hear that scream,” he told AFP, speaking of a comrade he had been unable to save.
AFP contributed to this report.
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