כ״ד אב ה׳תשפ״ו | August 7, 2026
Chabad Chossid Set to Enter Knesset as Likud Member
R’ Shabtai Katash, chairman of the religious council in Lod and a Lubavitcher chossid, is set to enter the Knesset as a Likud representative, replacing MK Dan Iluz. “The Rebbe guided us toward achdus. The shlichus of Chabad chassidim is to reach every Yid, without checking which sector he comes from. In the Knesset too, I see shlichus, to connect between parts of the nation and not to deepen the disagreements,” he said.
R’ Shabtai Katash, a Lubavitcher chossid and chairman of the religious council in Lod, is set to enter the Knesset as a Likud representative, replacing MK Dan Iluz.
Iluz announced earlier this week that he will resign from the Knesset in the coming days following his move to the Yisrael Beiteinu party, opening the seat for Katash, who is next on the Likud list.
Katash said he does not see his background as a limitation when it comes to representing the wider chareidi community.
“Likud is a party of the people, and the chareidi sector also has something to say within Likud,” Katash said in an interview with Kikar HaShabbat. “I can represent the religious community no less than the other representatives. We need to see how to connect people, not how to divide them.”
Regarding the draft law, which has become a major point of debate among Israeli society, Katash laid out his position. “Everyone who is not learning must be drafted. There is one leg that is Torah, and there is a second leg that is protecting Klal Yisrael through the army. Someone who learns Torah needs to stay in yeshiva,” he said.
He added that the state must ensure that chareidim who do enlist are able to maintain their way of life. “We need to make sure that whoever joins the army stays chareidi. Halevai that all the secular Jews would also learn Torah and also serve in the army.”
Katash described his political outlook as rooted in the Rebbe’s teachings. “The Rebbe guided us toward achdus. The shlichus of Chabad chassidim is to reach every Yid, without checking which sector he comes from. In the Knesset too, I see shlichus, to connect between parts of the nation and not to deepen the disagreements,” he said.
Katash’s entry into the Knesset has also drawn discussion among Lubavitchers, with some raising concerns and noting that the Rebbe repeatedly emphasized the need for Chabad to remain apolitical.
COMMENTS
How can he call himself a lubavitcher when the rebbe’s opinion is clear that it’s אסור to sit in the Knesset and he has the chutzpah to say what he is doing is routed in the rebbe’s teachings
the Rebbe never said that it’s assur to sit in the knesset, afaik. there is something about not sitting in the coalition, but later on, eliezer mizrachi, a lubavitcher chassid, did sit in the knesset, and in the coalition, and was a sgan sar. he received many many directives from the Rebbe on his work, most famously known is his part in the targil hamasriach
דברי הרבי בענין מיהו יהודי:
אלו שיושבים בממשלה היו צריכים לדפוק על השולחן – אמנם בדרכי נועם, אבל בכל התוקף – ולומר שלא יתכן שיהי’ דבר כזה, היפך התורה, וחייבים לבטל זאת, ואם לאו – יוצאים הם מהממשלה!
בכלל אסור לשבת בממשלה, שכן, ההשתתפות עם אלו שקובעים חוקים שהם היפך התורה, אסורה ע”פ תורה. – יש כאלו שמתווכחים ואומרים שאין איסור בדבר, אבל לדעתי, אסור הדבר. אבל אם אתה כ
בר יושב שם – למה אינך מוחה?! כיון שאתה כבר יושב שם – דפוק על השולחן ואמור שזהו דבר האסור ע”פ תורה, ואין לאפשר זאת! ותכריז, שאם לא מבטלים זאת, הנך יוצא מהממשלה!
מה אתה תפסיד? לא תהי’ “שר” – לא נורא!… יש שני מליון יהודים שאינם שרים, אז יהי’ עוד יהודי שאינו שר… וכי כדאי להסתכן בענין חמור כזה רק כדי שאתה תישאר “שר”?!
ואדרבה: כשמדובר אודות יהודי דתי שיושב שם ומתייסר כו’ – הרי יתכן שכל ישיבתו שם אינה אלא בכדי שיוכל לומר שאם לא יקבע חוק שצ”ל גיור כהלכה, אזי הוא יוצא משם! ובלשון המגילה: “ומי יודע אם לעת כזאת הגעת למלכות”, היינו, שכל ישיבתו שם היא רק בכדי שיוכל לומר שמוכרח להיות גיור כהלכה, ואם לאו, הוא יוצא משם!
ש״פ מצורע שבת הגדול י״ב ניסן תש״ל
It’s fun to anonymously criticize someone who puts himself out there.
He’s not representing chabad. He has been in politics as a political operative for many years. This is not a case of a Shliach or other chabad representative getting involved in politics.
Reb Leizer Mizrachi was not an official chabad rep but as a lubavitcher he gave up everything to follow the Rebbe. Had he not been there, terrible things would have happened rl. (He pushed off the Oslo catastrophe by several years).
How is any of this different?
its one thing to be involved in politics but its something very different when your sitting in the knesset which the rebbe clearly stated is assur even if he is going to do amazing things you cant go against a clear directive and your proof from Reb Leizer Mizrachi its not the same here because he was already in the knesset as oposed to whats being said here about joining
כדאי לברר אם מזרחי שאל את הרבי לפני שנכנס ל”אגודה
bepashtus not
When the Rebbe said to vote for the party that is ״חרדי ביותר״, who in their right mind thinks the kavana is Likud?
Which party cares most for pikuach nefesh?