Feiglin wins 'realistic' place in Likud list
Feiglin wins 'realistic' place in Likud listIsrael News Photo: (Flash 90)

Nearly 50,000 Likud party members gave the camp of Jewish Leadership faction leader Moshe Feiglin a big victory in the Likud primaries Monday, when Feiglin placed in the top 20, all but guaranteeing him a seat in the next Knesset.

Feiglin was voted into the 20th spot on the Knesset candidate list, which was topped by party caucus chairman Gidon Saar.  The voting had been extended until 1 a.m. due to a computer communications cable break Monday morning and long lines the rest of the day.

Knesset Member Gilad Erdan won second place, followed by MK Reuven Rivlin, and Benny Begin, son of forrmer Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Next in line were MK Moshe Kahlon, MK Silvan Shalom, and former IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon.

All of the rankings will be pushed back by one in order to place party chairman Binyamin Netanyahu in the first spot. Among U.S. immigrants, Shomron resident Yechiel Leiter barely made it into the top 40, former basketball star Tal Brody did not win a realistic slot, and Atty. Yossi Fuchs lost to Feiglin-backed Boaz HaEztni in the Judea and Samaria slot. Pre-election polls show that Likud will win approximately 35 seats.

MK Yuval Steinitz won the ninth place, and former Likud MK Dr. Leah Ness was voted into the 10th spot, which was reserved for a current or former woman MK. She is followed by MKs Yisrael Katz, Yuli Edelstein and Limor Livnat.

Dan Meridor and MK Michael Eitan also were placed in the top 20, but one of chairman Bibi Netanyahu's favorites, former police chief Asaf Hefetz, did not win a spot in the top 35 places, leaving in doubt the possibility of his gaining a seat in the next Knesset.



The complete line-up of the first 40 Likud candidates for parliament is as follows:



1. Binyamin Netanyahu

2. Gideon Saar

3. Gilad Erdan

4. Reuven Rivlin

5. Benny Begin

6. Moshe Kahlon

7. Silvan Shalom

8. Moshe Yaalon

9. Yuval Shteinitz

10. Leah Ness

11. Yisrael Katz

12. Yuli Edelshtein

13. Limor Livnat

14. Chaim Katz

15. Yossi Peled

16. Michael Eitan

17. Dan Meridor

18. Tzipi Hotobeli

19. Gila Gamliel

20. Moshe Feiglin

21. Zev Elkin

22. Yariv Levin

23. Tzion Finian

24. Mickey Ratzon

25. Ayoub Kara

26. Danny Danon

27. Carmel Shama

28. Ofir Akunis

29. Ehud Yatom

30. Hilleli Adbosi

31. Yitzchak Danino

32. David Even-Tzur

33. Kati Sheetrit

34. Miri Regev

35. Sagiv Asulin

36. Boaz HaEtzni

37. Guy Yifrah

38. Assaf Hefetz

39. Yechiel Leiter

40. Keren Barak



Most of the attention was focused on Jewish Leadership faction leader Moshe Feiglin, whose presence in the party - let alone a realistic slot on the party's Knesset candidate list - Netanyahu bitterly opposed.

Out of the top 30 candidates listed above, 15 were on Feiglin's recommended voting list. They are spots 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, and 29 above.

The placement of several religious and nationalist candidates in the top 20 spots represents a change in the character of the Likud and explains a drop in the polls for the new Jewish Home religious-Zionist party. The Kadima and Labor parties are expected to use the new Likud candidate list as ammunition to paint the Likud as a nationalist and religious faction that would stymie chances for an agreement with the Palestinian Authority if placed in power.

Following the announcement of the results of the Likud primaries, a Kadima spokesman called the Likud, which is leading in pre-election polls, a "prisoner of the extreme Right… that will try to come to power and implement its extremist policies."  Political analysts said that Kadima was stabbing in the dark, however, and that this characterization could barely be justified.

All Monday night until after 4:00 a.m., thousands of Likud members waited anxiously in the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds complex for the final results. Jewish Leadership faction activist Dovid Shirel said that the crowds began singing songs including "We have no one to rely upon except for our Father in heaven." "I was moved to tears," says Shirel, "and I realized that this is my party - the party of the Jewish nation."

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