RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from The Times of Israel — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 1 sources
A new candidate for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling Likud party on Monday evening was attempting damage control after calling US President Donald Trump a "morally corrupt piece of shit" less than two months ago.
Netanyahu announced entrepreneur and political newcomer Oren Dobronsky on Monday as his first pick to fill one of the eight slots he has been afforded for his handpicked candidates, six of whom are in the top 20 on Likud's slate for the October 27 general election.
In a statement announcing the pick, the party described Dobronsky — known as one of the investors on "The Sharks," Israel's version of the business reality TV show "Shark Tank" — as "a successful businessman, one of the founders of Israeli high-tech, and a right-wing figure."
But Dobronsky quickly found himself in hot water after recent social media posts came to light in which he insulted Trump and castigated the agreement the US signed with Iran in June. He also slammed the US president for leaving Israel out of the talks that preceded the deal, which has since lapsed.
"Do you understand that not only did Trump not invite Israel to the negotiating table, but he DIDN’T SHARE THE ACTUAL AGREEMENT LANGUAGE WITH ISRAEL?" Dobronsky wrote on X. "What kind of morally corrupt piece of shit treats an ally like that?"
In a separate post, Dobronsky accused Trump and his team of being "imbeciles" responsible for a "colossal failure" in the war against Iran, which he characterized as worse than former US president Joe Biden's much-maligned "debacle" in withdrawing from Afghanistan in 2021.
US intelligence assesses: Iran will be able to block the Strait of Hormuz whenever it wants from now on. (CNN)
Great job Trump and your imbecile team. You have managed to worsen the status quo as of before the war.
And now with the funds you are releasing to them (which is no…
— Oren Dobronsky (@ODobronsky) June 17, 2026
Set aside for a moment whether the agreement with Iran is good or bad, in what world is it normal NOT TO INVITE YOUR SHOULDER-TO-SHOULDER WAR ALLY to the negotiating table? Do you understand that not only did Trump not invite Israel to the negotiating table, but he DIDN’T SHARE…
His comments reflect the deep concern about the memorandum of understanding that spread across Israel in June, including on the right. But by Monday evening, Dobronsky appeared to be in crisis mode, posting an apology and praising Trump on Facebook. Advertisement "President Trump is the greatest friend that Israel ever had in the White House," he wrote. "I posted in his favor countless times. On one occasion, not knowing all the facts, I lost my temper and posted something I regret. My apologies to President Trump whom I admire dearly."
Trump is famous for not brooking personal criticism, a tendency that led Netanyahu to quash another of his appointments earlier this year. In March, the premier appointed Vice Adm. (res.) Eli Sharvit as the next head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency, but reversed course a day later after a recent op-ed by the former Navy chief criticizing Trump's climate policy came to light.
The criticism of Trump was not Dobronsky's only controversial remark. He wrote in a Facebook post in 2024, during the war in Gaza, that Israel should fight "as if we don't have hostages there" and that defeating Hamas should take precedence even if it meant risking the lives of the captives.
According to the IDF's data, 38 of the hostages were abducted alive and later killed in captivity. In many cases, they were murdered by their captors, and in others, the military has confirmed that its own actions, including airstrikes, led to the deaths of hostages.
Netanyahu's party is set to undergo another shift, and seat its first-ever ultra-Orthodox lawmaker, a reflection of the growing influence of Likud's Haredi contingent.
Dan Illouz, a former Likud MK, resigned from the party last month over the coalition's recent raft of controversial legislation favoring Haredi interests. In particular, Illouz was one of the most outspoken opponents of efforts to enshrine blanket exemptions from military service for ultra-Orthodox men.
Now, he is set to be replaced by Shabtai Katash, a Chabad Hasid and member of the Lod religious council. His impending appointment comes as Likud's Haredi membership has grown, with thousands of the community's members joining the party in advance of its primaries next week.
Speaking with the Kikar HaShabbat website, Katash said he believes "Likud is a people's party, and the Haredi community also has something to say within Likud." He said he views it as his mission "to connect the parts of the people and not deepen the divisions."
In line with Netanyahu's latest rhetoric on the military draft debate, Katash said members of the ultra-Orthodox community who are not enrolled full-time in yeshiva "must enlist." However, Netanyahu and his coalition have sought throughout their nearly four-year term in office to enshrine in law the decades-long broad exemption from military service of ultra-Orthodox males, defying High Court orders to draft them, and pushed through legislation intended to maintain this arrangement in the final days before the Knesset dissolved last month ahead of the elections. Netanyahu's political opponents have denounced the government over this policy, while the IDF itself has repeatedly pleaded for ultra-Orthodox men to be drafted amid a severe manpower shortage at a time of multi-front conflict.
"Those who study Torah must remain in the yeshiva" and "we need to ensure that those who enter the army remain ultra-Orthodox. I wish all secular people would both study Torah and serve in the army," Katash said.
In another interview, with the Srugim news site, Katash criticized Illouz's break with Likud, saying that he is "definitely wrong because we are part of a faction, part of the Likud faction, and there is coalition discipline."
Announcing his resignation from the party and his mo...
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.