MK Dan Illouz, who on Wednesday announced his decision to leave the Likud party, claimed in an interview with Ynet's "120 and One" podcast that following the October 7 massacre, many Likud lawmakers believed Israel's leadership should be replaced.

In his opinion, this should have been done through a no-confidence vote rather than elections, given that the country was in the midst of a war.

"When something like October 7 happens, a country that desires life cannot continue as usual. That should also be reflected in a change of leadership," Illouz said, adding that this view was widely shared within Likud at the time.

"On October 7, that was more obvious to many Likud members. Some of my colleagues, who today are very busy showing how close they are to Netanyahu, were then focused on how to replace him."

According to Illouz, "At least a third of the Likud faction knew that the right thing for the State of Israel was for the leadership to change. Not through elections, because we were in the middle of an intense war, but through a vote of no confidence."