Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s appointee, MK Hanoch Milwidsky (Likud), was appointed as the Knesset’s Finance Committee chairman despite allegations of rape against him, in the final vote on Tuesday.
Before his appointment, two heated Knesset committee meetings were held, which both concluded in majority votes favoring Milwidsky. The first vote tallied 9-6, the second 10-7.
Both meetings involved loud clashes between coalition and opposition MKs, with the latter strongly condemning Milwidsky’s appointment until the conclusion of the investigation that was opened against him on Friday.
Accusations against Milwidsky include rape and witness tampering, which he has denied.
Holding off on the appointment
The Likud Party had claimed that the opening of the investigation against Milwidsky was largely due to the timing of his appointment to the role, which came two days prior.
During the first committee meeting, MK Tally Gotliv (Likud) also reiterated a previous Likud statement by claiming it was the attorney-general who was behind the opening of the investigation. She repeatedly declared, “Everyone vote for Milwidsky!”
However, opposition MKs remained adamant that there would have been no problem to postpone Milwidsky’s appointment for the role until the investigation was closed.
The Knesset’s recent recess that began on Sunday was raised as another reason why there was no need to rush Milwidsky’s appointment.
“Given the very serious suspicions against the candidate, the appropriate action would have been not to bring this issue to discussion at all – especially not during the recess,” MK Vladimir Beliak (Yesh Atid) said in the second meeting.
“We didn’t need to do this while the Knesset is on recess, and when the hostage families are here,” Merav Ben Ari (Yesh Atid) expressed in the first meeting.
The first committee meeting began with statements from hostage family members, who slammed the government for spending time arguing over such appointments when hostages still remain captive by Hamas in Gaza.
Gil Dickmann, cousin of slain hostage Carmel Gat, called on MKs to look into the eyes of the hostages and tell them that Knesset meetings are currently focused on “giving a job to a man accused of rape,” while they remain captive.
Milwidsky was not present for any of the meetings or votes. Instead, he was already simultaneously conducting a Finance Committee session, which any MK of the committee can choose to chair as a temporary replacement, regardless of appointment.
MK Hamad Amar (Yisrael Beytenu) criticized Milwidsky for not being present for any of the discussions that took place, with additional MKs echoing the same sentiment and calling the vote “an embarrassing, uncomfortable situation.”
Milwidsky responds to his appointment
Following his appointment, Milwidsky responded that he was under instructions not to comment on the investigation but had “only one thing to say.”
“Between what is being published in the media, what people are reading aloud, and what actually happened – there is a world of difference,” Milwidsky said.
“I am convinced that the decent people among you, once the full details are made public, will understand the situation a bit better,” he said.
Head of the opposition MK Yair Lapid called Milwidsky’s appointment “a red line.”
“The coalition’s decision to appoint a man suspected of rape as chairperson of the Finance Committee is a red line – even by their distorted standards,” he said.
“It normalizes harm against women and causes real damage to them. This is a misogynistic coalition that is dismantling Israeli society,” Lapid said.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel also stated that Milwidsky’s appointment could harm Israel as a whole and called it an “ethical nadir that could undermine trust in the entire parliamentary institution.”
Ahead of the two votes, opposition party heads Ben Ari, Pnina Tameno-Shete (Blue and White), and Efrat Rayten (The Democrats) held an additional meeting to call for the postponement of the appointment.
“Suspects of rape and sexual offenses should not be in the Israeli Knesset – and certainly not be promoted,” Tameno-Shete expressed.
Ben Ari slammed the silence of coalition members and said that she had been in touch with many of them in the past days. She explained that some would have wanted to speak against Milwidsky’s appointment – emphasizing the significance of their silence.
Opposition MKs also said that if the vote had been anonymous, it would have gone differently.
Milwidsky’s appointment is currently temporary because it would be returned to United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni in the event that Gafni rejoins the coalition after recently leaving.
Gafni left the coalition because of the fallout in the negotiations regarding the haredi bill that is expected to exempt a large number of ultra-Orthodox men from IDF service.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.