Likud MK Nir Barkat will host more than a thousand Likud activists at Expo Tel Aviv on Thursday night at a rally billed as a “show of force.”
The rally is expected to show the strength of Barkat in the party and present him as a top candidate to succeed Netanyahu as the leader of Likud, whenever he decides to leave the post.
Barkat will present plans he has worked on regarding several key issues and his long-term vision for the country.
But Barkat will make a point of supporting Netanyahu and not undermining him in any way. He will criticize prospective prime minister Naftali Bennett and New Hope leader Gideon Sa’ar for not joining a Netanyahu-led government.
The rally was planned a long time before it was clear who would form the government, sources involved in planning it said.
The last time Barkat hosted a major rally was in October 2019. Sara Netanyahu was the guest of honor at the lavish event at Airport City, which veteran Likud central committee members called the fanciest, most expensive and best organized political rally they had ever attended.
“If the prime minister decides to resign [from the chairmanship of the Likud], I will of course enter the race for prime minister and I will win,” Barkat said back then.
By contrast, other potential Netanyahu replacements have displayed their independence.
KAN reported on Monday that Health Minister Yuli Edelstein told Likud activists in private conversations that Netanyahu needs to be replaced. His spokesman denied the report, but sources in the Likud confirmed it.
Finance Minister Israel Katz suggested in an official statement that Netanyahu leave his post for a year in order to keep the Likud in power. He said his own chances of getting elected in Likud institutions were high, but he clarified that the idea was pending Netanyahu’s approval.
Katz called on Barkat to cancel the rally, saying that it would be interpreted as undermining the prime minister.
“At this time, we all must stand together in the struggle for the Likud’s principles, in favor of the party continuing to lead the State of Israel,” Katz said.
Likud sources said Barkat was overheard telling Likud activists at a wedding of a child of Kfar Saba Deputy Mayor Oren Cohen that Netanyahu needs to leave his post soon.
Sources close to Barkat denied the report.