Transition approved: Tali Gottlieb to run on the Otzma Yehudit list for the Knesset
She will not be declared a defector, will continue to serve as an MK, her funding unit will remain with Likud - but she will run in the next Knesset with Otzma Yehudit: Tali Gottlieb's transition to Otzma Yehudit has been approved, where she will likely be placed in the fourth spot, following her attacks against Likud due to her resentment toward Benjamin Netanyahu and her concern about facing an indictment without immunity.
Representatives of Likud and Otzma Yehudit have reached an agreement on the inter-party transition of MK Tali Gottlieb. According to the agreed details, Gottlieb will not be declared a defector, will not resign from the Knesset, and will continue to serve as an MK under the factional discipline of Likud, and her funding unit will remain with the party until the 26th Knesset. At the time of submitting the lists, she will be placed on the Otzma Yehudit list for the Knesset, thereby freeing up a spot for another woman in Likud — in this case, it could be Gila Gamliel. Gottlieb thus completes her transition to Otzma Yehudit, where she is slated to be in the top five, most likely in the fourth spot.
Political sources who spoke with her said that her main fear stems from the fact that if she is not elected to the next Knesset, she will be forced to face an indictment against her without the protection of immunity. Additionally, Ben Gvir predicted according to polls that Gottlieb could add about two mandates to his party. Gottlieb claimed in media interviews — but also in closed rooms — that since she reached the 20th spot on the Likud list, which does not guarantee her a place in the next Knesset, she is expected to end up in an interrogation in the Shin Bet basements due to the indictment filed against her for disclosing and publishing classified information, after she revealed on social media the identity of a Shin Bet agent, the partner of Shikma Bressler.
The filing of the indictment against her was delayed for months after Defense Minister Israel Katz refrained from signing the confidentiality certificate required for the case. Finally, at the request of the head of the Shin Bet, he signed the confidentiality certificate and paved the way for the indictment to be filed. Because of this, Gottlieb is walking around with a grudge against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior Likud members who stabbed her in the back, because she claims she committed the offense to help the government — and now she is expected to deal alone with a complex legal situation.
The people of the Minister of National Security and chairman of Otzma Yehudit Itamar Ben Gvir have reviewed Gottlieb's situation in public in recent days, and the data shows that she increases the power of Otzma Yehudit by one mandate in internal polls. Likud debated quite a bit regarding the move, but as her attack against the party escalated, Netanyahu announced he would release her. Now the question arises whether Gottlieb's spot, which will be vacated for a woman, will be allocated to Gamliel in the next Knesset or if Likud will continue to push her out. Gamliel has been conducting a struggle in the movement's court in recent days against the results of the primaries after claiming that ballots counted again a week after the primaries were "contaminated" to allow Minister Haim Katz to bring his associate, MK Eti Atiya, into the Knesset.
The Likud party stated:
"Likud and Tali Gottlieb have agreed that MK Gottlieb will be able to run in the elections for the 26th Knesset with the Otzma Yehudit faction and will not be declared a defector. As part of the agreement, Gottlieb is obligated to be subject to the factional discipline of the Likud party in votes until the 26th Knesset. We wish Tali success."
