{"id":525363,"date":"2026-07-04T20:09:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T20:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/525363\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T20:09:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T20:09:08","slug":"yuli-edelstein-leaves-likud-expects-to-start-new-right-wing-political-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/525363\/","title":{"rendered":"Yuli Edelstein leaves Likud, expects to start new right-wing political party"},"content":{"rendered":"

After more than 20 years with Likud<\/a>, MK Yuli Edelstein will be leaving the party this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a very difficult sentence to say,\u201d he said in a Friday press conference. \u201cThere are also those friends who at this moment are hearing what I am saying in surprise and saying, \u2018What is Yuli doing?! We supported him for decades, we would have supported him this time too, why is he doing this?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Notably, Edelstein is expected to vote against legislation being advanced by the coalition as part of the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties\u2019 deal with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Afterward, he is expected to set out on a new political path \u2013 apparently alongside figures such as Gilad Erdan and Ayelet Shaked<\/a>, should they run as expected.<\/p>\n

Among the other names being considered for the party are attorney Shvut Raanan, who left Yoaz Hendel\u2019s Reservists Party, and Davidi Ben Zion, deputy head of the Samaria Regional Council.<\/p>\n

A source familiar with the details said this new party\u2019s official launch is expected to take place after Tisha Be\u2019av, in about three weeks.<\/p>\n

The rift between Edelstein and Likud has reportedly deepened in recent months over the haredi enlistment bill.<\/p>\n

As chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Edelstein<\/a> refused to advance an enlistment bill that would not include significant enlistment targets, as well as personal and institutional sanctions.<\/p>\n

That position put him in direct confrontation with the haredi parties and the Prime Minister\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

The political crisis surrounding the bill ultimately led to his removal as committee chairman after most of the Likud faction voted to replace him.<\/p>\n

Edelstein\u2019s departure is among the most significant by a senior party figure in recent years.<\/p>\n

It also signals an effort to establish a new political party for statesmanlike right-wing figures who no longer see their future in the current Likud.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After more than 20 years with Likud, MK Yuli Edelstein will be leaving the party this month. \u201cThat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[49,4410,12186,42,21141,43,40,38,41,39,62373],"class_list":["post-525363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-elections","tag-haredi-draft","tag-headlines","tag-likud","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-yuli-edelstein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}