After Quitting Likud, Dan Illouz Says Party 'Sold Out' Principles to Stay in Power | Israel Politics Post
After Quitting Likud, Dan Illouz Says Party 'Sold Out' Principles to Stay in Power
The lawmaker, isolated within Likud over his opposition to shielding yeshiva students from the draft, says voting Likud today effectively means voting for the ultra-Orthodox leaders who now set the government's priorities.
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By Israel Politics Post Staff·Published
MK Dan Illouz speaks at a Knesset House committee meeting · Source: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90, via The Times of Israel
Former Likud MK Dan Illouz has resigned from the party, saying Prime Minister Netanyahu's government abandoned core right-wing principles in order to keep its ultra-Orthodox coalition partners happy, The Times of Israel reported. His departure followed the Knesset's passage of legislation freezing enforcement against Haredi draft dodgers, a law Illouz had publicly opposed.
Illouz, who entered the Knesset in 2023 on an immigrant-quota seat, had grown increasingly isolated inside Likud over his resistance to preserving blanket military exemptions for yeshiva students. He faced internal party punishment, including losing committee assignments, after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was fired in 2024 amid similar disagreements over the issue.
"The party is not driven by ideology or policy today, but by a determination to stay in power," Illouz said, framing a vote for Likud as effectively "voting for Goldknopf and Deri," the ultra-Orthodox party leaders he says now dictate the government's real priorities.
Illouz has backed hardline right-wing positions of his own, including West Bank annexation and restrictions on UNRWA, so his break with Likud is specifically about the Haredi draft accommodation rather than a broader ideological shift. He has signaled openness to joining a new right-wing alliance, but says any future coalition he'd be part of cannot include non-Zionist parties.
