Illouz to ‘Post’: Netanyahu must pay political price for October 7 - interview

OCTOBER 6, 2026 07:01Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must be replaced because failing to impose a political price for October 7 would undermine accountability and endanger Israel’s future, former Likud MK and Yisrael Beytenu candidate Dan Illouz said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.“If there isn’t a political price to being prime minister when such a disaster happens, then this is something which is dangerous for us as a country,” he said.For Illouz, the question extends beyond who should lead the next coalition. Allowing Netanyahu to remain in power despite what happened on his watch, he argued, would create political incentives to evade responsibility rather than accept it.“I think that it’s very important for the next government not to be led by Netanyahu,” he said.Illouz joined Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu in August and subsequently resigned from the Knesset. He holds the tenth spot on the party’s election slate.MK Dan Illouz attends a House committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem on, June 28, 2026. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)His departure from Likud, he said, reflected a growing divide between the principles that first drew him to the party and the policies he encountered as one of its lawmakers.Illouz drawn to Likud's commitment to free markets, strong defenseAfter making aliyah from Canada in 2009, having graduated from McGill University’s law school, Illouz joined Likud before signing a lease. Its commitment to free markets, strong defense, and military service for all appealed to him.Once inside the Knesset, however, he said he repeatedly found himself fighting members of his own party to advance those objectives. He accused Likud politicians of protecting interest groups rather than opening markets and Netanyahu of blocking sovereignty initiatives in the West Bank.The most pressing rupture concerned military service.Illouz described friends spending prolonged periods in reserve duty, missing their children’s births and struggling to maintain their careers. Against that backdrop, he argued, integrating haredi men into the military was an urgent practical necessity.Yet Likud, he said, had worked to preserve its arrangements with the haredi parties instead of delivering meaningful change.In Yisrael Beytenu, he said, he found the combination of economic liberalism, strong security policies and universal service that had initially attracted him to Likud. He pointed to Liberman’s refusal to join a government in 2019 over the draft dispute as evidence that the party leader had already been tested on the issue.Illouz’s disillusionment with Netanyahu also centered on the failure to establish a state commission of inquiry into October 7.Initially, he said, he accepted the argument that an inquiry should wait while Israel was fighting an intense war. When Netanyahu subsequently raised the possibility of an alternative mechanism, Illouz waited to see what would emerge.When no alternative materialized, he said, he concluded that the delay reflected an attempt to avoid responsibility.Asked whether he supported a state commission of inquiry, his answer was unequivocal: “Definitely.”Challenged about his previous praise for Israel’s wartime achievements, Illouz said he stood by his assessment of the military’s performance and believed Netanyahu also deserved some credit.But he distinguished battlefield accomplishments from achieving the government’s stated objectives.The IDF had dealt major blows to Israel’s enemies, he said, yet Hamas remained in Gaza, Hezbollah retained the ability to rebuild, and Iran’s regime remained in power. In his assessment, those outcomes fell short of the “total victory” Netanyahu had promised.“But we didn’t deliver total victory,” he said.Yisrael Beytenu, Illouz align on religion, individual freedomAlongside security and accountability, Illouz presented his move to Yisrael Beytenu as consistent with his views on religion and individual freedom.A religious Jew himself, he described his outlook as classical liberalism: support for smaller government and less state intervention in people’s lives.He distinguished Israel’s Jewish national identity - expressed through its flag, history, and holidays - from imposing religious observance on individuals.“In general, in every issue when there is religious coercion, I’m against religious coercion,” he said. “As a religious Jew, I think it only hurts religion.”He backed allowing municipalities to decide whether to operate public transportation on Shabbat, rather than imposing a uniform policy on communities with different identities.Growing up in Montreal, he said, the availability of public transportation had never interfered with his religious observance.Illouz confident in Zionist opposition's potentialOn coalition arithmetic, Illouz expressed confidence that the Zionist opposition could secure enough seats to form a government, while acknowledging that doing so would require mobilizing voters and persuading the public that change was necessary.“I really hope that Lieberman is the next prime minister,” he said.Asked whether he would sit with an Arab party, Illouz answered no, saying his objection concerned recognition of Israel and unequivocal condemnation of Hamas and October 7, rather than Arab identity.His position on the haredi parties was also firm - and, he acknowledged, represented a change from his earlier belief that negotiations could produce a workable draft agreement.Illouz said committee discussions had convinced him that proposed compromises were being filled with loopholes that would preserve the existing situation.Instead, he advocated changing the financial incentives surrounding enlistment, including withdrawing state benefits and municipal tax discounts from those who do not enlist.He argued that meaningful financial consequences would encourage haredi men to serve, while accusing their political representatives of obstructing integration into both the military and the workforce.Asked what he would reconsider from his time in Likud, Illouz returned to his former confidence in compromise.“I unfortunately don’t believe that we can get into a compromise with them,” he said.Follow us on Google