Sa’ar to contest Netanyahu plan to cancel Likud leadership vote
Sa’ar will give his first reaction to the developments at The Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference on Thursday.
By LAHAV HARKOVLikud MK Gideon Sa'ar speaks at the The Jerusalem Post-Ma'ariv Elections Conference, September 11 2019(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hopes to cancel the primaries for the Likud leadership and its list for the likely third election next year, but he will face opposition to the decision from his rival, MK Gideon Sa’ar.Sa’ar will give his first reaction to the developments at The Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference on Thursday.Netanyahu seeks to hold a vote on canceling the primaries in the Likud central committee on December 5.So far, no one has disputed his plan to cancel the primary for the Likud list, since one was already held before the April 2019 election. The move was also designed to ensure that Likud backbenchers would not break away from the party and join a coalition led by Blue and White, in order to not lose their seats in the Knesset.But Sa’ar, the only MK who has said he would run against Netanyahu for the Likud’s leadership, gave an indication that he would oppose canceling the leadership primary, during a meeting of the members of the religious-Right political bloc on Wednesday.Likud central committee chairman and MK Chaim Katz said he would send a letter to central committee members that day to notify them of the vote to cancel the primary for the party’s list.Culture Minister Miri Regev said: “I think we should decide to cancel the leadership primaries.”“Miri, do you want to start this discussion here?” Sa’ar interjected.“I’m saying my opinion, you can say yours,” she replied.Then, Likud faction chairman Miki Zohar ended the meeting.
The last time Netanyahu won a Likud leadership primary was before the 2015 Knesset election. Subsequently, he twice attempted to hold a primary. The first, in 2016, was canceled because he was unopposed and the party’s court decided it would be a waste of money. The second was last month, when Netanyahu sought to hold a primary that he would win, in order to show Blue and White that they cannot convince the Likud to depose him, but Netanyahu backed down after Sa’ar said he would run.
