Lawmaker Tally Gotliv is on her way out of Likud and into Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party — a move confirmed on Thursday evening. This is a defection driven not by ideology, but by a textbook case of political self-preservation.
Unfiltered and uninhibited as ever, Gotliv took the trouble to spell out in a Channel 14 interview on Tuesday why her departure from Likud to Ben Gvir’s far-right party was so urgent. “If, God forbid, Likud gets 19 seats, I’ll find myself in Shin Bet detention facilities,” Gotliv declared.
In other words, she has to jump ship to ensure that in the incoming 26th Knesset, she will be positioned to resubmit a request for parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution. In her view, remaining in the No. 20 spot on the Likud slate leaves her at risk of finding herself outside the Knesset – an assessment that reflects a striking lack of confidence in Likud’s election day chances — and inside a high-security interrogation room.
In May 2026, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara delivered a copy of an indictment against Gotliv to the Knesset speaker, charging her with unlawfully revealing the identity of a covert Shin Bet officer who is the romantic partner of prominent anti-government protest leader Shikma Bressler. The offense, under the Shin Bet Law, carries a potential sentence of up to three years in prison.
