Chairman Shai Hajaj of the Merhavim Regional Council in the Gaza vicinity is threatening to leave the Likud and persuade others to do so if the party does not change its policy on agriculture.
Interviewed by 101.5 FM radio, Hajaj, a member of the Likud secretariat and member of the World Likud leadership, said, "Agriculture does not interest the government - that's how we feel here in the south. As chairman of the Regional Councils Center, all over the country I hear this from all our farmers. We are just now working to bring the issue of agriculture to the platforms of all the parties, including the Likud, and I hope very much that in the future we will know which party is taking the matter into its own hands and which is not."