The appointment of MK Hanoch Milwidsky (Likud) as chairperson of the Knesset’s Finance Committee is expected to take place on Tuesday as planned, while the investigation against him into sexual misconduct and obstruction of justice remains ongoing.
Accusations against Milwidsky include rape and witness tampering, which he has denied. Two additional suspects linked to the case were named on Monday as Zvi Gelman and Eli Vinokur.
MKs from the Likud Party were said to have joined others in calling for the postponement of Milwidsky’s appointment, according to a Monday report from Kan News.
The Jerusalem Post cannot independently confirm the report.
The report said that the Prime Minister’s Office responded to the alleged calls for postponement by stating that Milwidsky’s appointment will be carried out without delay.
According to the report, the PMO’s reason for going forward despite the investigation was that Milwidsky is “entitled to presumption of innocence” and because of the claim that the investigation was launched against him only as a tactic to prevent his appointment.
A source in the Likud told the Post that Milwidsky’s appointment is still intended to be carried out as planned.
Heads of the opposition factions Pnina Tameno-Shete (Blue and White), Merav Ben Ari (Yesh Atid), and Efrat Rayten (The Democrats), will deliver a statement regarding the appointment an hour before the vote is expected to take place at the Knesset’s Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality.
Likud MK Moshe Saada called for the State Attorney’s Office to issue a statement regarding Milwidsky’s innocence by Monday evening, before the day of the vote.
“If the suspicion has been confirmed, he [Milwidsky] must not be appointed. If the suspicion has been disproved, he must be appointed,” Saada said during a morning 103FM interview.
MK Merav Ben Ari, faction head of the Yesh Atid opposition party, slammed women coalition members for not “saying a word” about the Milwidsky case.
“Not a single female MK from the coalition has said a word about Milwidsky – not even a small moral statement. There are, after all, two complainants here: one accusing him of rape and the other of sexual harassment. These are the coalition’s women today – sitting in the frozen fish department and staying silent,” she wrote in a Monday X/Twitter post.
MKs outside of Likud also called for postponement of Milwidsky appointment
MKs of other parties called on Sunday for Milwidsky’s appointment to be postponed due to the ongoing investigation.
The Likud Party claimed that the cause of opening the investigation into Milwidsky was “an unrestrained witch hunt led by the attorney-general against Israel,” in a Sunday statement.
Likud said the investigation was an example of Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara’s attempts to “obstruct the work of the government in every possible way and launch wild investigations against coalition members” since the government announced its intention to dismiss her.
The Likud statement also pointed to the timing of the opening of the investigation as a major factor in why the investigation was opened.
Two days before the investigation, Milwidsky was appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the position of the Finance Committee Chairperson.
Although he was appointed by Likud, Milwidsky still must go through two more stages before he can officially take on the position. Both are expected to take place on Tuesday.
The stages require that Milwidsky first be officially recommended by the Knesset’s House Committee. Once this occurs, a subsequent vote by the Finance Committee itself is expected, which would provide final approval for his appointment.
Milwidsky initially was the leading contender to be the chairperson of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee last week. However, ahead of the vote, Netanyahu selected him to temporarily fill the position of chairperson for the Finance Committee instead.
The position is temporary for Milwidsky 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.
This fallout is also why the position of chairperson of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee became vacant.