Likud Knesset Member-elect Elisha Medan, who lost both legs in battle in the Gaza Strip during the Swords of Iron War, announced on Tuesday that he intends to stand on his prosthetic legs while being sworn in to the 26th Knesset, despite the pain and the medical difficulties.
"I decided that when I swear allegiance to the Knesset of Israel and the People of Israel, I will stand on my feet," Medan wrote. "I will do so despite the pain, the bleeding that doesn't stop, and my medical condition which is still unclear."
He then mentioned the negotiations to form a government and called for a unity government, opposing a government supported by the Arab parties.
"It is time for a government that unites the nation, and not a government that depends on the Islamic Movement and the Muslim Brotherhood. We will unite, rise, and keep walking," he declared.
Medan, 47, is a military reservist and one of the founders of the community of Avigail in the southern Hebron Hills. He is the son of Rabbi Yaakov Medan, one of the heads of the Har Etzion Yeshiva, and served in the Paratroopers Reconnaissance Unit and later in the Mar'ol Unit, which he helped establish.
At the outbreak of the Swords of Iron War, he deployed to fight in the Gaza border communities and later joined the forces fighting inside the Gaza Strip.
In November 2023, Medan was critically wounded by an explosive device during an operational mission in the Beit Hanoun area. Four of his fellow unit members were killed in the incident, including company commander Major Moshe Yedidya Leiter.
As a result of the explosion, Medan lost both legs and underwent a lengthy rehabilitation process that included hospitalizations, surgeries, and the fitting of prosthetic legs. After a year and three months, he was discharged and returned home.
In 2025, he lit a torch at the Independence Day ceremony on Mount Herzl, becoming one of the symbols of the wounds suffered by soldiers during the war and their subsequent rehabilitation.
Ahead of the elections for the 26th Knesset, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reserved the 15th spot on the Likud list for Medan, who was elected to the Knesset for the first time.