MK Dan Illouz announced on Wednesday that he was joining Yisrael Beytenu and endorsing party chairman MK Avigdor Liberman for prime minister, after recently leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party.
“Netanyahu has failed in leading the country, and he must take responsibility and go home,” Illouz stated.
Sharply criticizing the Likud, Illouz said the party had become “a subcontractor” for haredi (ultra-Orthodox) party leaders MK Arye Deri (Shas) and MK Yitzhak Goldknopf (United Torah Judaism).
Illouz has been a vocal critic of the contentious haredi-backed legislation advanced by Netanyahu’s coalition, which critics argued would encourage draft evasion amid the IDF’s severe manpower shortage.
'Anyone who wants genuine right-wing party should vote Yisrael Beytenu'
He left Likud last month, saying he could not remain a member of a party he could no longer bring himself to vote for.
“I call on all Likud voters: Anyone who wants a genuine right-wing party should vote for Yisrael Beytenu,” Illouz said.
Yisrael Beytenu is a core party in the opposition bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu in the upcoming elections. It holds a hardline stance regarding haredi conscription to the IDF.
The party also holds a hawkish security stance and advocates for expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank. It strongly advocates for a separation of religion and state.
Illouz joined Knesset in 2023 after immigrating from Canada
Illouz immigrated to Israel from Canada and entered the Knesset as a member of Likud in 2023. Throughout the government’s term, he had been a vocal critic in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee against the coalition’s contentious legislation being advanced dealing with haredi conscription.
“During this Knesset term, I led the fight against the draft exemption bill together with the MKs of Yisrael Beytenu,” Illouz stated.
“I am joining Yisrael Beytenu because it is the party that today represents the national and liberal values in which I believe,” he added.
“Avigdor Liberman is a strong, experienced, and consistent leader who always stands by his principles, even when doing so comes at a political cost.”
Liberman welcomed Illouz’s addition, stating that he is a “principled public servant who has demonstrated courage, integrity, and a willingness to pay a personal price in order to stand by his convictions, foremost among them the fight against the draft exemption bill and the demand for equality in sharing the national burden.”
“His decision to join us is a significant boost to the Zionist, national, and liberal camp,” Liberman added.