Former National Security Council director and veteran Likud member Tzachi Hanegbi announced he plans to support Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman in the October 27 vote. He made the statement in a column that appeared in Yediot Aharonot on Tuesday.

Hanegbi said the move grew out of deepening differences with segments of the Israeli Right, especially on draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men, views on the courts, and the behavior of some political figures.

"In the upcoming election, I will vote for Avigdor Liberman," Hanegbi wrote, calling the step a notable personal break from his earlier political record.

Hanegbi, who left the National Security Council post in October 2025 after clashing with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, noted that the coming vote will mark the 18th election he has taken part in.

He added that this will be the first time he will not cast a ballot for a party that includes either his late mother, former MK Geula Cohen, or himself on its list.

"While in all the previous elections I had no dilemma whatsoever, in the current election the challenge is new," he wrote. "This time I really have to choose, and not just vote."

Hanegbi Faults Direction of Right but Keeps Core Beliefs

Hanegbi said he still holds firmly to right-wing principles rooted in his early days in the Betar youth movement and later work with Herut and nationalist student groups.

Yet he argued that parts of today’s Israeli Right no longer reflect those principles.

"I am not a messianic right-winger. And I am not a racist right-winger. And I am not a right-winger who despises his ideological opponents," Hanegbi wrote.

He also rejected tolerance for nationalist crime and moves to weaken law-enforcement bodies in the name of stronger governance.

His sharpest remarks focused on military-service exemptions, which he said had become impossible to justify after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and three years of fighting.

Hanegbi admitted that successive governments, including those he served in, had not tackled the problem effectively.

Still, he warned that ongoing draft avoidance endangers the country, especially given the heavy burden carried by regular soldiers and reservists.

He faulted right-wing parties that accept coalition partners who urge young men to ignore draft orders and declare they would rather die than serve.

Hanegbi Highlights Liberman’s Early Warnings on Hamas and Settlement Record

Hanegbi also recalled his long friendship with Liberman, which began nearly five decades ago when both were students at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The two later served together in the Knesset and in government, including when Hanegbi was deputy foreign minister under Liberman.

Hanegbi said he was struck by Liberman’s handling of the Hamas threat while serving as defense minister.

He remembered sitting in the security cabinet as Liberman repeatedly warned that Israel was not giving enough attention to the threat from Gaza.

"Unfortunately, all of us, all the cabinet members and all the heads of the security services, did not give his warnings the weight they deserved," Hanegbi wrote.

Liberman stepped down as defense minister in November 2018, criticizing the government’s response to Hamas and its acceptance of a ceasefire after fighting in Gaza.

Hanegbi recalled Liberman warning that the policy favored short-term calm over long-term security.

He said the October 7 massacre showed how serious the danger Liberman had flagged years earlier really was.

Hanegbi also praised Liberman’s stand against religious coercion, his backing of West Bank settlement, and his defense of judicial independence despite years of legal scrutiny.

In Hanegbi’s view, these stances show that Liberman can stay true to nationalist goals while respecting rivals and protecting democratic institutions.