David Bitan

David Bitan holds a law degree from Tel Aviv University and formerly ran his own law office.[2] A 2015 profile identified him as a Likud candidate representing the Shfela region.[8]

Bitan began his political career in the Likud branch in Rishon LeZion, starting in grassroots roles and eventually becoming branch chairman.[9] He served on the Rishon LeZion city council from 1987 to March 2015, became deputy mayor in 2005, and throughout that period sat on the city's local planning and building committee.[3] He also chaired the city's Planning and Building Committee.[10] He ran in the Likud primary for the 19th Knesset in 2013 but did not enter parliament at that time.[8]

Bitan entered the Knesset as a Likud member on March 21, 2015.[3] He held the 16th position on Likud's list for the 20th Knesset and was marked as a first-time Knesset member.[11] After entering parliament, he was appointed chairman of the Knesset Committee and later became coalition chairman.[2]

He served as Likud coalition chairman — a role also described as coalition whip — from May 16, 2016, to December 20, 2017.[3] In December 2017, while a police investigation was underway, he asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to relieve him of the role, stating that he would continue serving as a Likud MK.[4] A Congressional Research Service report from that period referred to him as the "just-resigned Knesset Coalition Chairman."[12]

In the March 2020 election to the 23rd Knesset, Bitan appeared at position 25 on Likud's party list; Likud received 1,349,171 votes, 29.48% of the total, and won 36 seats.[13] He was subsequently elected chair of the Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs, serving in that role from March 2020 to April 2021.[5] The committee's central focus was immigration and absorption, though it convened eight meetings that dealt directly with antisemitism, at least four of which addressed antisemitism on social media and in digital spaces.[5] The committee also served as a forum for dialogue between Jewish and pro-Israel communities worldwide and Israeli MKs, while making policy recommendations and tracking their implementation.[5]

On the challenge of combating antisemitism, Bitan remarked: "This is not something that can be measured. Ladies and gentlemen, the problem of antisemitism is constantly growing. We are dealing with it, and perhaps we are preventing a further increase, but it's very hard to measure success or failure in this matter. So there is no process of measuring our investment."[5]

Bitan later became chairman of the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee.[1] In May 2026, he led the committee's approval of a bill to establish a credit-information database for businesses, pushing to complete the legislative process before the Knesset dissolved.[14] He was listed 22nd on the Likud party list for the October 2026 election to the 26th Knesset, with his likelihood of taking a seat classified as "Certain."[15]

Maariv described Bitan in 2022 as a prominent Likud figure who built relationships inside and outside the party.[9] In July 2026, amid a dispute over Likud's primary rules, he petitioned the party's internal tribunal to prevent further delay and called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's demand for ten personal reserved slots undemocratic. He said such a large number of reserved places was "effectively an arranging committee."[1]

These episodes illustrated the political profile he developed after entering the Knesset: a party operator with strong internal ties who was also willing to criticize Likud leadership over party procedures.

Bitan contracted COVID-19 and spent approximately two months seriously ill, including two periods in intensive care after his oxygen levels fell and his condition worsened.[16] He was released from Sheba Medical Center in February 2021. He said doctors had told him he was "close to death" and urged the public to take the disease seriously.[16]

Bribery and Corruption Proceedings

In January 2020, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit decided, subject to a hearing, to indict Bitan over allegations involving NIS 992,000 in bribes across nine matters from 2011 to 2017, spanning his time as deputy mayor and as an MK.[3] Police had recommended charges in 12 matters, three of which were omitted from the attorney general's decision. Bitan denied receiving money or benefits for actions connected to public office, and his lawyers maintained that his decisions had been made professionally and in the public interest.[3]

After Bitan stated that he would not seek parliamentary immunity, the State Attorney's Office filed a formal indictment on August 9, 2021, in the Central District Court in Lod.[17][18] The indictment named 15 additional defendants and alleged that between 2011 and 2017 Bitan accepted benefits from developers and others in return for advancing their interests while in public office.[18] The charges included bribery, breach of trust, money laundering, and tax offenses, with the indictment attributing NIS 715,000 in bribes across seven matters.[18] The U.S. State Department's human-rights reports documented both the January 2020 decision to indict and the August 2021 indictment.[19][6]

Specific allegations in the indictment included NIS 336,000 allegedly received through an associate in connection with advancing a plan for a gas station at the Ein HaKore junction on Highway 431, and NIS 40,000 allegedly received from a manager associated with the Half-Hinam group in return for assistance with land-use and parking issues.[18] These are allegations in the indictment and not findings of guilt.

When the evidentiary phase opened in December 2022, a state witness testified about an alleged cash-payment arrangement connected to a building project in Tel Aviv and said requests were conveyed through Bitan.[20] Bitan's lawyers denied the allegations, and Bitan stated that the witness had acted without his knowledge and that there was no evidence he had received money from him.[20]

In September 2025, Bitan took the stand at the Lod District Court and denied taking bribes or breaching trust.[7] He acknowledged making financial commitments he should not have undertaken, linking some of them to pressure surrounding Hapoel Rishon LeZion football club. He said: "I did not take a bribe. I did not breach trust. Everything will become clear in my testimony."[7] The trial was ongoing as of that date; no finding of guilt was reported in the sources consulted.

Comments on Arab Voter Turnout

In December 2016, Bitan drew criticism after saying he would prefer that Arab Israelis not come to vote, while also stating it was not for him to tell them whether to vote.[21] He said he did not understand the backlash and commented that no political party wants to see its opponents going to the polls.[21] Opposition politicians and members of the Arab Joint List condemned the remarks, with some characterizing them as racist or as a call to deny minority voting rights.[21]