Veteran Likud activist to Netanyahu: Japtinsky, Begin, and Shamir are ashamed of you

Tel Aviv - Ofoq News - Oren Hellman, a veteran activist in the Likud Party, launched a sharp attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after receiving an official notification from the head of the party’s Elections Committee, demanding that he respond within 24 hours, in preparation for the possibility of his dismissal from the party’s ranks.

Heilman said that the notification arrived a few hours after he published a post in which he announced the reasons for his decision not to vote for Netanyahu in the upcoming elections.

Helman wrote: “A few hours later, I received an official notification from the judge who heads the Likud Elections Committee, demanding that I respond within 24 hours, in preparation for my dismissal from the movement.”

Heilman, who said that he has been participating in Likud's election campaigns since 1982, added that what is happening represents an infringement on freedom of expression within the party, saying: "Likud is no longer a movement of its members, but rather has turned into a movement of one man, Netanyahu, and has become like a private company in every sense of the word."

He continued: "This is the new law: anyone who dares to oppose it, question it or speak the truth, will simply be expelled."

Hillman spoke about a series of events that he said came after his criticism, explaining that Netanyahu's supporters demanded his expulsion from the country, and even from reserve military service, which he volunteered for in May 2023, during which he said he served about 200 days under emergency summons orders.

“The notification I received is not an indictment against me, but rather the official death certificate for Likud as a national liberal movement,” Hellman wrote.

He added, "Japtinsky and Begin's party, which raised the slogan of freedom of opinion and Begin's dignity, has turned into a sect in which only applause is permitted."

Hillman directed his speech to those close to Netanyahu, saying: “Topaz and Urich informed the judge loyal to Netanyahu that Netanyahu can expel me from Likud, but he cannot take Likud from me.”

He stressed that he would not give up his affiliation with the movement, even if it was decided to expel him from it, and wrote: “I was in Likud long before he was in it. I have been active in the party’s election campaigns since 1982, before he was even active in the movement.”

Hellman concluded his attack by saying: “Netanyahu, Japtinsky, Begin, and Shamir are ashamed of you.”

At the conclusion of his post, Heilman announced that he would not vote for Netanyahu in the upcoming elections, saying: “The state is above the party, always! We will vote for Bennett, we will win, and we will work to reform Israel.”