"The partnership with the Haredi leadership is an existential danger" | The Likud MK who opposes the exemption
Dan Ilouz, one of the consistent voices against the exemption from conscription law, is willing to pay the price in the primaries for opposing Netanyahu: "Whoever identifies with the values of Shas and not with…
Assessment
Knesset member Dan Illouz of Likud is openly breaking with his party's line on a draft exemption for Haredi yeshiva students, framing the coalition partnership with Haredi leadership as an existential threat. He is willing to risk his own seat in party primaries to oppose Prime Minister Netanyahu on this issue. Illouz is proposing an alternative coalition built around national liberal values, one that would include parties outside the current governing coalition. The interview signals a growing internal Likud split over a deeply polarizing policy question that has broad implications for military service, coalition stability, and the fragility of the government's majority.