Modi’in mayor denies reports he aims to form party to trick voters
Party reportedly meant to attract those disappointed with Netanyahu, and then join him after elections
By GIL HOFFMANHaim Bibas, Chairman of the Federation of Local Authorities in Israel, speaks at the 7th Annual Jerusalem Post Conference in New York on April 29th, 2018.(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Modi’in Mayor Haim Bibas vigorously denied reports that he intends to form a new socioeconomic party ahead of the next election in order to take votes of centrists who do not like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and help Netanyahu form a coalition.The reports in the Haaretz and Yediot Aharonot newspapers said the goal of the party would be to woo voters who cast ballots for Blue and White in the past three elections. It would be modeled after the socioeconomic Kulanu Party that won 10 seats in 2015, attracting the support of anti-Netanyahu voters, but then joined a Netanyahu-led government.Yediot called it a “straw party” and quoted a source in Likud saying that Netanyahu intends to use Bibas to obtain a majority in the Knesset, because he cannot rely on the current parties in the center-right bloc.But Bibas told The Jerusalem Post that he is a member of Likud and "will stay a member of Likud." He also said that despite the current impasse, he did not believe there would be another election any time soon."It would be completely irresponsible and crazy to even consider an additional election in the near future," he said. "It would betray the trust of the Israeli public that expects its government to focus completely on the fight against the coronavirus, healing the economy and helping the hundreds of thousands who have lost the source of their income."A Likud spokesman also told the Post that the reports in the media were incorrect. Bibas is close to Netanyahu and has served as his campaign chairman. He has become powerful as the head of the Union of Local Authorities in Israel.
