Likud Clears MK Tali Gottlieb to Join National Security Minister Ben-Gvir’s "Otzma Yehudit"

Israel’s Likud party announced Thursday evening that MK Tali Gottlieb will be permitted to leave the party and join Otzma Yehudit, headed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Likud also said that Gottlieb would not be formally declared a “defector,” a designation that could have significant consequences for her ability to run in the next Knesset election.

The decision effectively clears the way for Gottlieb to move to Ben-Gvir’s party while retaining her Knesset seat.

Electoral Law Complicates Party Switching

Under Israel’s Basic Law: The Knesset, an MK who leaves his or her parliamentary faction without resigning from the Knesset cannot run in the next election on behalf of a party that is already represented in the Knesset.

However, the Central Elections Committee recently approved former Blue and White MK Eitan Ginzburg’s candidacy on Naftali Bennett’s party list without requiring him to resign from the Knesset.

That decision established a precedent that has now opened the way for Gottlieb to change parties without giving up her parliamentary seat.

Gottlieb Was Pushed Down Likud List 

Gottlieb’s move follows a sharp decline in her position on the Likud electoral list.

Following Likud’s internal primary and subsequent reservations by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Gottlieb was pushed from 12th place on the party’s list to 20th place.

Gottlieb has argued that she was the target of a “targeted political elimination” and has demanded that she be restored to the position she won in the primaries.

She has warned that if she fails to return to the Knesset, she could potentially find herself “in Shin Bet detention facilities.”

Gottlieb Faces Charges 

Gottlieb is facing criminal proceedings over allegations that she unlawfully disclosed and published classified information in connection with her exposure of the identity of the partner of protest leader Shikma Bressler, who was an employee of the Shin Bet security service.

“I did it for the government,” Gottlieb said in an interview with Channel 14 this week. “An indictment has been filed against me.”

Her continued presence in the Knesset could therefore have political as well as legal significance.

Growing Clash With Netanyahu’s Inner Circle

In recent days, Gottlieb has intensified her criticism of Netanyahu’s close associates, including his son Yair Netanyahu and political adviser Jonathan Urich.

“Netanyahu and his advisers are working to exclude me from Likud, in complete opposition to the will of the voters,” Gottlieb wrote on X on Wednesday.

Several hours later, however, she turned her criticism toward Urich, claiming that Yair Netanyahu was “a remote-controlled puppet” of Urich, whom she accused of creating and fueling a conflict that did not previously exist between herself and the prime minister.

Despite her increasingly public confrontation with figures close to Netanyahu, Gottlieb has continued to emphasize her loyalty to the prime minister and his right-wing government.

Gottlieb: I Would Consider a Senior Ministerial Role

Earlier this week, Gottlieb wrote that her commitment to Netanyahu and the right-wing government had always been absolute.

“I have always shown enormous devotion to the prime minister and the right-wing government. I literally threw myself on the barricades for the prime minister and the right-wing government,” she wrote.

At the same time, she said she would not accept being politically marginalized while fighting what she described as a struggle against the “rule of bureaucrats” and what she called the Supreme Court’s excessive intervention in political, military and diplomatic affairs.

Gottlieb also indicated that she could consider leaving Likud if she received a sufficiently attractive political offer.

“If I were to receive a realistic offer from a party that respected my electoral strength and my clear ability, with God’s help, to serve as a minister in a position of major importance, I would seriously consider it on behalf of my voters,” she wrote. “For now, there is no such offer.”

A Potential Boost for Ben-Gvir

Gottlieb’s move could strengthen Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit ahead of the next election, while simultaneously deepening tensions within Likud.

For Netanyahu, the decision removes an increasingly vocal internal critic from the party’s ranks. For Ben-Gvir, bringing Gottlieb into Otzma Yehudit could provide the party with another high-profile figure on the Israeli right and potentially broaden its appeal among voters dissatisfied with the Likud leadership.

The move also highlights the increasingly fluid political landscape on the Israeli right as parties and politicians position themselves ahead of the next Knesset election.