Firebrand Likud MK accuses security forces of ‘treason’ in Knesset amid Iran attacks |
As millions of Israelis braced for Iranian missile attacks on Monday, coalition lawmakers debated granting immunity to Likud MK Tally Gotliv, who has been accused of exposing the identity of a Shin Bet officer, in a hearing that was dominated by conspiracy theories against security forces; demanded legislation to enshrine draft exemptions for yeshiva students by making long-term Torah study a basic law on par with military service; and verbally accosted government staff.
Yashar party leader and former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot slammed the coalition for continuing to advance legislation establishing a politically appointed probe into the October 7 onslaught amid the renewed Iranian attacks, calling it “proof of the coalition’s distorted priorities” and “deep contempt for the public and its spirit of resilience.”
“Discussions are beginning in the Knesset, not about the home front, not about residents of the north, not about closed schools. Instead, they’re discussing Tally Gotliv’s immunity request,” said Yesh Atid MK Meirav Cohen.
While the discussion on the political probe was ultimately pulled from the agenda at the last minute following criticism from opposition lawmakers, the Knesset House Committee’s first hearing on Gotliv’s request for immunity from prosecution proceeded as planned.
The office of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who attended the committee session in a rare appearance, announced last month that it was indicting Gotliv over social media posts from 2024 that identified the partner of anti-government protest leader Shikma Bressler as a Shin Bet agent, while promoting baseless conspiracy theories linking him to Hamas and insinuating that he bore responsibility for October 7.
Gotliv does not deny the charge and repeatedly argued during the hearing that exposing the officer’s identity was justified.
“I exposed the partner of the leader of the rebellion that led us to disaster,” she declared.
The hearing lasted roughly five hours, much of it devoted not to legal arguments regarding Gotliv’s immunity but to her lengthy denunciations of Baharav-Miara, who was seated silently across from the lawmaker throughout the proceedings, and of the security establishment and anti-government protesters.
“You have become enemies of the government, people who harm national security,” Gotliv said to prosecutors, accusing Baharav-Miara of everything from enabling reservists who refused to serve during the judicial overhaul protests to “starving Haredi children,” while failing to prosecute “100,000 draft dodgers in Tel Aviv.”
Among the hearing’s more dramatic moments was when Gotliv screened what appeared to be a TikTok video, as part of her defense, combining footage of anti-government protest leaders and........