New ‘Reservists’ party accuses Likud of pressuring registrar to block its registration

HaMiluimnikim says ruling party is exploiting state mechanisms to curb competition; justice minister denies accusation

By Ariela Karmel

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3 December 2025, 6:11 pm

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Yoaz Hendel, head of the Reservists’ Party, speaks during the party’s launch event ahead of the 2026 general elections, at Kibbutz Ma'ale HaHamisha near Jerusalem, November 19, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

The fledgling HaMiluimnikim (“The Reservists”) Party accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party on Wednesday of pressuring the state registrar to withhold final approval for the faction’s registration.

According to the new party, Likud first petitioned the registrar to prevent the use of the name “HaMiluimnikim,” and is now “pressuring the registrar to disqualify The Reservists’ name and block the final stage of registration.”

The registrar, under Justice Minister Yariv Levin, has been delaying the final stage of registration beyond the legal 30-day deadline, the party claimed, describing it as “an attempt to silence criticism and harm the party’s ability to compete fairly.”

HaMiluimnikim called the move “unprecedented,” noting that no governing party has ever filed an objection to another party’s name or sought to block the registration of a competitor in this manner.

A spokesperson for Levin told The Times of Israel that the allegations were unfounded, adding that the minister “has no connection” to the matter and that he himself wasn’t even aware of it.

A spokesperson for Likud did not reply to The Times of Israel’s request for comment.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin attends a plenum session in the Knesset in Jerusalem, December 3, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

“Despite the registrar’s commitment to comply with the timeline dictated by law, it has recently become clear that he is delaying its response,” HaMiluimnikim said in a statement.

“Likud’s petition is a direct continuation of the all-out war the ruling party is waging against reservists in the Knesset and in the government,” said HaMiluimnikim chairman and former communications minister Yoaz Hendel.

“The ruling party, which talks endlessly about the ‘deep state’ and the [judiciary] as an excuse for all its failures, is now using those same tools to harm democratic competition,” he added.

The dispute emerged as the Knesset debates the government’s latest bill regulating the military conscription of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, proposed by Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth, which HaMiluimnikim fiercely opposes and which has met widespread condemnation, including from within Likud itself.

For the past year, Haredi leaders have sought to pass legislation that would largely exempt their community from military service, following a High Court ruling that the decades-long blanket exemptions for full-time yeshiva students were illegal.

Around 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged 18 to 24 are currently eligible for military service but have not enlisted, while the IDF says it urgently needs 12,000 recruits due to strains from the war in Gaza and other military demands.

Hendel, a critic of the government and a battalion commander in the reserves, founded the party with the goal of passing a universal draft law. He has said that the party would open a membership drive restricted only to those who have performed military or national service, and has advocated harsh penalties for draft evasion.