Likud MK announces resignation, says party has been ‘hijacked’ by Haredi interests

Likud MK Dan Illouz announced his resignation, stating the party has been "hijacked" by Haredi interests and is evading responsibility for the October 7 attacks. He criticized the party's promotion of military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students while reservists are struggling. Illouz also revealed that after October 7, "at least a third of the Likud faction" sought to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu through a no-confidence vote. His departure follows the Knesset's approval of a controversial law temporarily banning the arrest of Haredi men evading military service, which the High Court of Justice has since frozen. Emanuel Weiser, a judge in Likud's internal court, also resigned for similar reasons.