The Likud announced on Tuesday that former Knesset Member Eli Goldschmidt will join the party's slate in the upcoming Knesset elections.
Goldschmidt, who served as a legislator for the Labor Party and even as its faction chairman in the Knesset, joins a series of new candidates.
According to a statement put out by the party, Goldschmidt resided for years in the Gaza envelope and, following the October 7th Massacre, went through a process he described as "disillusionment."
The Likud stated that he changed his political and defense stances and now supports Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Likud, and the right-wing camp.
The Likud presented Goldschmidt’s political background and the shift in his views as part of the contribution he brings to the slate. The party said he brings “an important, experienced and clear-eyed voice," along with experience in the public and political arenas and familiarity with the range of viewpoints within Israeli society.
Goldschmidt joins Brig. Gen. (res.) Amir Avivi, founder of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, whose reserved slot was announced earlier by the Likud. During his IDF service, Avivi held several senior positions, including deputy comptroller of the defense establishment, chief of staff to the IDF Chief of Staff, deputy commander of the Gaza Division, commander of the Sagi Brigade and commander of the Combat Engineering School.
Avivi returned to Israel at age 18 as a lone soldier after spending his childhood in various countries due to the overseas postings of his father, diplomat and ambassador Pinchas Avivi. He enlisted as a combat soldier in the Combat Engineering Corps and rose to the rank of brigadier general. When announcing his addition, the Likud said the Israel Defense and Security Forum would also join the party.
Another candidate receiving a reserved slot is Talik Gvili, mother of fallen Yasam officer SFC Ran Gvili, who will be placed ninth on the Likud slate. Despite being wounded, Ran went out to fight on October 7th and saved many lives before he was killed and his body abducted to Gaza. His body was later returned in the special operation “Brave Heart."
The 11th slot will be reserved for IDF reservist Elisha Medan, who was seriously wounded in battle in Beit Hanoun and lost both legs. Medan, a founder of Avigail in the Mount Hebron region and a father of six, was wounded during an operation in the northern Gaza Strip in which four of his comrades fell. On the most recent Independence Day, he was selected to light the “Torch of Healing and Rehabilitation."
Attorney David Peter, a legal expert with experience in constitutional, public and commercial law who has represented the state before the Supreme Court several times, is also joining the slate. Peter holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Bar-Ilan University and is pursuing a doctorate there. In announcing his addition, the Likud emphasized his legal experience and his work on issues involving governance, law, liberty and democracy.