Netanyahu loyalists triumph in Likud primaries

The Likud primaries was a triumph for those politicians who demonstrated loyalty to party leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Yariv Levin, Amir Ohana, Eli Cohen, Yoav Gallant and David Amsalem made the top five, while those formerly near the top of the list – Yuli Edelstein (18), Israel Katz (12) and Miri Regev (9), found themselves pushed well down the list. Deals aside, the Likud voters were rewarding loyalty to Netanyahu and punishing the likes of Edelstein for challenging Netanyahu’s leadership. Since joining the Likud from Kulanu, Galant and Cohen have worked hard to consolidate their positions within the Likud, after being guaranteed places last time.

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Hard work also paid off for the likes of Yoav Kisch, who led the Likud’s struggle in the Knesset plenum against the outgoing government and made the top 10, and Shlomo Karhi, the Negev district representative, who worked hard on Knesset committees and in the plenum, and finds himself in the top 20. In contrast, there were former ministers who found themselves as just MKs, and did not spend enough time in the Knesset, who have been punished in the primaries.

New entries in the list include former Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon (15) and former Israel Hayom editor Boaz Bismuth (27), who within just two weeks recruited thousands of supporters. With the polls predicting 35 seats for the Likud, outside of realistic places were the late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s son Gilad Sharon, and Netanyahu’s publicist Erez Tadmor.

The Likud primaries were a defeat for the party’s women who instead of joining forces fought each other as part of the deals made by the men. Miri Regev kept her position as the most senior woman in the Likud, down in ninth position, while Galit Distel-Atbaryan down at 20 was the second highest ranked woman, the status previously held by Gila Gamliel, pushed down to 32.

Eti Atiya, the relatively anonymous MK, supported by Haim Katz, managed only 35th place, suggesting that the deal culture in the Likud has weakened. With 60,000 free voters, deals involving 30,000 organized voters were enough for realistic places for Katz himself and David Bitan but not Atiya.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on August 11 2022.

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2022.