Erdan against Likud: "It is no longer the original Likud I grew up on"

Unity Party Chairman Gilad Erdan spoke with Gadi Ness on Radio Tzafon 104.5FM about the aftermath of the Likud primaries and his party's boundaries ahead of the 2026 elections.

Addressing the primaries in the ruling party, Erdan stated: "I was a Likud member for thirty years and ran for the Knesset six times. In the 16 years since 2006, I was always elected in the top three. But I chose a new path, and I am very much at peace with it."

He further added: "When I looked at the primaries, I saw ultra-Orthodox voters associated with Agudat Yisrael, and Itamar Ben Gvir publishing a list of recommended candidates. You see committees that registered for Likud to prevent reforms that would harm the economic bodies they belong to."

According to him, this contradicts the party's core values: "For example, when there was an attempt to lower the cost of imports and online orders from abroad. This is not the original Likud. These are not the values I grew up on—values of a free economy and commitment to the security of the state."

Erdan later criticized the party he left:

"The principles and ideology of a party should be above everything else. This is what you tell the voters. But a situation has been created where Likud would make promises, and then, because of the alliance with ultra-Orthodox parties, do very bad things towards the serving public and the families of reserve soldiers. Towards many publics in Israel, for whom they did not fulfill their commitments."

Reflecting on his time at the UN, Erdan emphasized the importance of national unity: "When I fought for the defense of the state against all the antisemites who do not distinguish between religious, secular, right, and left, I understood: from their point of view, they want to destroy the Jewish state. The most important thing for us is to try to create unity, not uniformity. It is impossible to make everyone think the same."

"There is the Unity Party today. The more political power we have, the more you get both real right-wing policies and real conscription. We will demand that in order for us to be part of the government, the parties must sit together," he noted.

According to Erdan, many Likud members understand the need for a new political framework: "We have already had approaches in the past, because Likud Knesset members understand the situation with the primary system and the fact that the Prime Minister demanded a record number of reserved spots. Every listener understands that he does not think the Likud list is good enough, and he wants to hide it."