Liberman unveils Yisrael Beiteinu slate with bereaved father in second place

Avigdor Liberman, chairman of the Israeli party Yisrael Beiteinu, presented his party's slate of candidates for the Knesset, Israel's parliament, at a party conference. Ynet reported that Liberman was introduced at the event as the country's next prime minister and that the composition of the list contained surprises, with Rafi Ben Shitrit placed second and Talia Lankri third.

According to a list published by the journalist Amit Segal, the order runs: Liberman, Ben Shitrit, Lankri, Oded Forer, Yulia Malinovsky, Sharon Sharabi, Hamad Amar, Yevgeny Sova, Elvira Kuilikhman and Dan Illouz. A separate listing published by News.co.il gave the same first seven names in the same order.

Who is on the list

Ynet reported that Ben Shitrit lost his son in the Hamas attack of October 7, and that Sharabi has campaigned for the return of his brother from captivity in Gaza. Ynet also reported that Dan Illouz, who left the Likud party, was placed tenth on the slate.

Several names on the list are familiar from the outgoing Knesset. Oded Forer, Yulia Malinovsky, Hamad Amar and Yevgeny Sova have all served as Yisrael Beiteinu members of parliament. Amar is a member of Israel's Druze community, a minority whose men serve in the Israel Defense Forces under a compulsory draft arrangement.

What Yisrael Beiteinu is

Yisrael Beiteinu, whose name means "Israel Our Home", was founded by Liberman and built its early base among immigrants from the former Soviet Union. It has campaigned for years on secular-nationalist themes: civil marriage, curbing the influence of the rabbinical establishment, and above all universal conscription including the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, population, most of whose men receive exemptions from military service to study in religious seminaries. Liberman has served as Israel's defence minister and finance minister, and his party has moved in and out of governing coalitions led by Benjamin Netanyahu.

What Liberman said

Reporting from the conference, N12 quoted Liberman saying that Israel faces an internal threat of incitement and division, that the state cannot become "a federation of minorities", and that the next government would be a governmental and Zionist one placing the good of the state above sectoral, party and personal interests.

On conscription, N12 quoted him pledging: "We will legislate a draft law for everyone." He said there would be no draft evaders and that every young person aged 18 would enlist. The issue has repeatedly destabilised Israeli coalitions, because Haredi parties treat exemptions as a condition of joining a government while Israel's Supreme Court has pressed the state to end blanket deferrals.

Liberman also addressed religious separation in the public sphere, saying, according to N12, that his party would not allow what he called the "Bnei Brak syndrome" to spread across the country. Bnei Brak is a largely Haredi city east of Tel Aviv. He said city councils would not be able to decide on separate pavements for men and women, that the law permitting gender separation in academic institutions would be repealed, and that on his watch it would not happen that a soldier cannot enter a city in Israel.

In a further remark carried by Ynet's alerts channel, Liberman said Israel's situation today is more severe than it was on the eve of the October 7 massacre. That attack, carried out by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, triggered the war that has dominated Israeli politics since.

Criticism of a rival

Ynet reported that Liberman criticised Gadi Eisenkot, saying experience was needed and that the most important thing is a leader who knows how to decide. Eisenkot is a former IDF chief of staff who entered politics and is among the figures positioning themselves in the opposition camp.

At the conference, Talia Lankri said Liberman would be the next prime minister and that the current leadership had sown division, according to a Ynet alert from the event.

What the reports do not say

The material does not give the full slate beyond the first ten names, nor does it say how the list was determined, whether by a party institution or by the chairman alone. It does not give biographical details for Lankri, Kuilikhman or others beyond the descriptions above, and it does not say what roles the candidates would hold. The reports do not state the election date, nor do they give polling figures for the party. The Ynet report and the Ynet alert differ in the placement they attribute to Sharon Sharabi: the alert lists him sixth, while the article's description groups him with the top of the slate. The candidate lists published by Amit Segal and News.co.il both place him sixth. No response from Eisenkot or from other parties appears in the material.