On 31 December 1973, elections that had been delayed by the war took place. Likud, a new political party, won 39 seats in the Knesset. Newly elected Member of Knesset and one of the Likud founders, Reserve General Ariel Sharon gave a newspaper interview in which he was quoted as saying that he would disobey orders that he felt were against the interests of the State or his subordinates. This caused so much public concern that Sharon was asked to appear before the Commission, which accepted his testimony that the quote was in the context of a specific event which occurred under very exceptional circumstances.