Former Likud Ministers Erdan and Edelstein Break Away to Form New Right-Wing Party

Two prominent former ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, Gilad Erdan and Yuli Edelstein, announced Thursday that they are forming a breakaway right-wing faction to compete against their former party in the October 27 election.

At a press conference in Tel Aviv, the pair said their new party, which does not yet have a name, would champion universal conscription while holding to core right-wing values. The emphasis on drafting all sectors of society, including the ultra-Orthodox, positions the new faction against the Haredi exemption laws that Netanyahu’s coalition recently pushed through, an issue that has become one of the most divisive in Israeli politics after nearly three years of war.

Erdan, a former ambassador to the United Nations and the United States, framed the move as a matter of consistency. I have been a right-winger my whole life, I have never zigzagged, he said, professing continued support for West Bank settlements and opposition to a Palestinian state. But he argued that Likud had abandoned other values it once prized, such as responsibility and mutual respect, a pointed critique of the party’s direction under Netanyahu.

The breakaway fits a familiar pattern in Israeli politics. Previous elections have seen a succession of factions split from Likud, some later rejoining Netanyahu’s party. Whether this new party endures or eventually folds back in will depend on how it fares at the ballot box and in the coalition negotiations that typically follow.

The timing is significant. Likud is set to hold primaries on August 17, at which its more than 100,000 members will choose the party’s Knesset slate. The emergence of a rival right-wing option, led by well known figures, could draw voters and lawmakers unhappy with the party’s stance on conscription and its handling of the war.

The announcement adds another variable to an already crowded and volatile campaign. With Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar leading some polls, Netanyahu facing criticism from multiple directions, and the electorate deeply divided, the shape of the next Knesset remains highly uncertain. For right-wing voters weighing their options, Erdan and Edelstein are betting there is room for a party that pairs traditional nationalism with a demand that the burden of service be shared by all.