MK Dan IIlouz (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
In June, Illouz told the Post that the haredi parties “can be a danger to the future of the state of Israel,” saying that the coalition should sever ties with them.
MK Dan Illouz is expected to announce shortly that he is leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party, N12 news site reported on Saturday.
Illouz’s office did not release an official statement on the matter or confirm the departure when asked for comment by The Jerusalem Post.
A political source told the Post that the departure was highly likely to happen soon.
The report follows MK Yuli Edelstein’s July 3 announcement that he will leave Likud, after which he is expected to begin a new political party.
“That is a very difficult sentence to say,” said Edelstein at the time. “There are also those friends who at this moment are hearing what I am saying in surprise and saying, ‘What is Yuli doing?! We supported him for decades, we would have supported him this time too, why is he doing this?'”
MK Yuli Edelstein attends a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem, December 9, 2025. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
Both Edelstein and Illouz are critics of the contentious legislation being advanced by the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties from within the coalition.
This includes the controversial Basic Law: Torah Study bill, which would enable haredi draft dodgers to receive state benefits, as well as an additional bill aimed at changing Israel’s daycare subsidy system.
Illouz to ‘Post’: Haredi parties ‘a danger’
In June, Illouz told the Post that the haredi parties “can be a danger to the future of the state of Israel,” saying that the coalition should sever ties with them.
“If the army doesn’t have enough soldiers, then that’s a danger to our ability to protect the state of Israel,” Illouz told the Post.
He further noted the economic impact of haredi draft evasion as evidence of their presence in the coalition doing “more harm than good.”
“I believe that the ideology that I represent – the right-wing, free market, hawkish ideology – is the one that needs to lead the country,” said Illouz.
“But I don’t believe that the coalition with the ultra-Orthodox parties is actually something which is helping us advance this ideology,” he added.
Avi Solomon contributed to this report.