Veteran MK Yuli Edelstein Leaves Likud to Form New Political Party

After more than two decades as a senior member of Likud and serving as Knesset Speaker, MK Yuli Edelstein is in advanced stages of leaving the party and is expected to resign soon. According to reports from Walla, Edelstein plans to vote against the coalition-backed military conscription and daycare laws, which are part of the ultra-Orthodox parties' deal with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Following this, he intends to announce an independent political path.

Political analysts anticipate that Edelstein will help establish a new political faction potentially including prominent figures such as former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and former Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan, should they decide to run in the upcoming elections. The relationship between Edelstein and the Likud leadership, including Netanyahu’s circle, deteriorated sharply in recent weeks, reaching a breaking point over the conscription law. As chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Edelstein strongly opposed advancing a bill lacking significant recruitment targets and sanctions on the ultra-Orthodox Torah study sector, leading to a direct confrontation with representatives of United Torah Judaism, Shas, and Netanyahu’s office.

The crisis culminated in Edelstein’s dramatic removal from the committee chairmanship after most Likud faction members voted to replace him to facilitate the law’s passage. Behind the scenes, influential figures in the religious Zionist sector have encouraged Edelstein’s move, with rabbis and public leaders recently urging him and Shaked to form a new political force. This emerging faction aims to attract a broad base of national-religious voters and right-wing centrists disillusioned with the current coalition, especially those who feel alienated by the direction of Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party.

Edelstein’s expected departure and opposition to the coalition’s conscription laws may mark the official launch of this new right-wing bloc ahead of the next elections.