JPost's Caroline Glick among candidates suggested by public for reserved Likud spot
Likud voters gave Netanyahu the right to choose the candidates who will be in the 11th and 23rd spots on the party's Knesset list.
By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMANDanish ambassador, JPost's Caroline Glick exchange verbal blows over EU attitude toward Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the public on Wednesday whom they want to see in the Knesset and they responded with a wide range of candidates, including Jerusalem Post Senior Contributing Editor Caroline Glick.Likud voters gave Netanyahu the right to choose the candidates who will be in the 11th and 23rd spots on the Likud candidates list.He decided to ask the public for recommendations on his official Facebook page.Among the names suggested were Glick, former Bank of Israel governor Stanley Fisher, Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky, economist Shlomo Ma’oz, journalists Roni Daniel and Ben-Dror Yemini, television personality Avri Gilad, former Maccabi Tel Aviv star Tal Brody, former Shas MK Haim Amsalem and Shurat Hadin – Israel Law Center Executive Director Nitzana Darshan-Leitner.“I’m very humbled that members of the public have put my name forward as their desired representative in the Knesset,” Glick said. “I don’t know if now is the right time for me and my family for a move into politics, but I do know that the people of Israel are the strongest, bravest people in the world and deserve equally valiant leaders.”Glick said that in the 24 years since she made aliya she has witnessed the transformation of Israeli society on every level. Israelis have matured as a free people and have demonstrated that they can surmount all limits placed on them in every field of human endeavor, she said.“Under Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s leadership, we have withstood extraordinary pressures, placed on us from the most unexpected quarters, and moved forward,” Glick said. “For as long as I can remember myself, I have always believed that the greatest goal I could aspire to was to defend Israel and the Jewish people. I have been privileged with many opportunities to do so in my professional life. And I am honored that members of the public consider me worthy to continue my efforts in the Knesset.”Sharansky turned down the offer from the public to enter the Knesset, saying that he prefers to remain at the Jewish Agency.“I am appreciative of the public’s support and I hope the public feels as I do that my current job is equally challenging and of service to Israel and the Jewish people,” he said.Darshan-Leitner said she was honored by the suggestion, but that she is too busy filing war crimes suits at the International Criminal Court in The Hague against Palestinian leaders Mahmoud Abbas, Khaled Mashaal and Jibril Rajoub.
“It’s good the public feels that Israel needs to fight back against those attacking us,” she said. “I can contribute 77 times more from outside than I can from inside the Knesset. Israel needs its soldiers outside the Knesset too.”Brody called it a “nice compliment.”The Likud said Netanyahu’s request to involve the public in choosing the Likud’s MKs resulted in hundreds of replies. The party clarified that the candidates’ inclusion on the list of suggested nominees did not signify any interest on their part in joining the party.A source close to Netanyahu said the decision to consult the public was serious and that the process was “not a game.”