Likud MK Dan Illouz launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday, accusing him of treating voters as "stupid" for claiming he privately opposed draft exemption legislation that his government had actually pushed to pass.
Illouz's remarks came after reports suggested Netanyahu had told confidants in closed conversations that he opposed the arrest-freeze law for Haredi draft evaders and plans to pursue stricter military conscription in the next government, a stark contrast to the legislation his coalition advanced over the past months.
"Netanyahu, who capitulated time and again to every outrageous demand from the Haredim, thinks the public is stupid and now is leaking from closed conversations that he opposed the arrest-freeze law and in the next government he will advance a conscription law that meets IDF needs," Illouz said.
But Illouz rejected the framing entirely, citing his firsthand involvement in the draft debate. "This is absurd. As someone who was there throughout the entire battle against draft evasion, Netanyahu not only failed to oppose the exemption laws, he pushed with all his might to pass them. Only the fingers of those opposed to capitulation to the Haredim prevented some of them from being approved," he said.
The Likud MK warned that Netanyahu's apparent strategy could inflict further damage on the party ahead of elections. "This arrogance toward the voter and treating him as stupid will only worsen the Likud's condition," Illouz stated.
He concluded with a sharp indictment of what Likud representation now signals to voters. "Because the public is definitely not stupid: everyone knows that voting Likud today is voting for selling out to the Haredim, blanket exemption from conscription during wartime, IDF collapse, economic collapse, and Deri and Goldknopf as senior ministers."
Illouz's criticism reflects broader fractures within the coalition. Multiple Likud MKs, including Yuli Edelstein, have publicly opposed the draft exemption legislation, while Religious Zionism's Moshe Solomon and Sharren Haskel resigned from government in protest.
The draft exemption laws have proven deeply unpopular with Israeli voters. Recent polling shows the Likud's support has dropped from 25-26 seats to just 21-22 seats following the passage of the controversial legislation.
The Supreme Court has already frozen implementation of the arrest-freeze law pending deliberation on whether it violates fundamental equal-protection principles by exempting Haredim from military service while conscripting secular and national-religious Israelis.
