Likud members around the country are considering how the party can rebound from the devastating loss it suffered in the elections. After receiving 38 Knesset mandates in the 2003 elections, the Likud received only 11 this time - assuming there will be no changes after the counting of the soldiers' votes and the final adjustments. The split-off of a third of the party's MKs to Kadima had been expected to eat into the Likud's strength, but the loss was heavier than expected.
In his speech to party members and activists after it was learned that the Likud's standing was even lower than predicted by the polls, Netanyahu said he would remain at his post and lead the party back to greater days. This was in sharp contrast to his behavior when he lost the Prime Ministerial election to Ehud Barak in 1999, when he immediately announced his resignation from the Knesset.
However, the fact that his main competitor for party leader, Silvan Shalom, was not at his side during the speech has led to rumors that Shalom is planning to try to depose him. Shalom, in fact, did not show up at all at Likud headquarters that evening, and instead held a meeting at his home with three other Likud seniors - Yisrael Katz, Limor Livnat, and Danny Naveh.
In addition, the four did not attend the meeting of party seniors called by Netanyahu on Wednesday, the day after the elections.
One Central Committee member said, "The Likud reached an indescribable low, and a leader must take responsibility and vacate his post."
A close friend of Netanyahu, Dr. Gabi Picker, said, "When Netanyahu resigned in 1999, he was criticized for running away. He is a man of utmost integrity, and he believes he has the ability, and the responsibility, to rehabilitate the party."
MK Michael Eitan has proposed an internal party investigative committee to determine why the Likud did so poorly in the election. NFC reports that Netanyahu will assumedly not object to have Eitan head such a committee.
MK Chaim Katz, who will not be in the next Knesset, said, "Netanyahu must go. A leader who failed must leave, otherwise there is no significance to the responsibility. If Bibi stays around for another term, the Likud will drop to four mandates."
Ex-Minister Naveh, speaking this morning (Thursday) on Army Radio, refused to address the question of whether Netanyahu should be replaced. He said that his meeting with Shalom merely dealt with how to torpedo plans that have been raised to merge the Likud with the National Union/National Religious Party and/or Yisrael Beiteinu. "It would be a grave mistake in my opinion," Naveh said, "to join with these extreme right-wing parties. Our mistake in this campaign was that we became too right-wing; we ran a scare campaign without offering hope or an alternative. We have to become a moderate right-wing party once again."
Asked why he was not at Netanyahu's side during the difficult moments when the results were learned, Naveh said, "Maybe I should have been there, but that is not the point. I am with the Likud in its very difficult moments right now, working to restore the Likud to what it was."
Ex-minister Shalom has not yet spoken publicly, but his wife - journalist Judy Nir-Moses Shalom - claimed that Netanyahu's secretary phoned Shalom's secretary to invite/inform him of the speech only four minutes before the speech began. She did not explain why he was not there beforehand.
Aides to former Minister Livnat similarly said she was informed of the speech only 12 minutes before it began.
Former Minister Katz, on the other hand, has denied publicly that he is party to any attempt to unseat Netanyahu.
Some Likud leaders are in fact considering the option of merging with the NU/NRP to form the largest opposition bloc in the Knesset. Netanyahu would thus become the leader of the opposition, a formal position via which they feel the party can be rehabilitated.
MK Aryeh Eldad (NU/NRP) said he invites the Likud to join a united bloc in the Knesset. "Even before the elections I supported a large nationalist bloc that would include also Yisrael Beiteinu and the Likud. But it was Netanyahu who objected, because he wanted to become more centrist. But it can still be fixed now. Together with the Likud, we would be 20 seats - a large party."
At present, the Likud is the 5th largest party. It can assume the head of the opposition only if all four larger parties - Kadima, Labor, Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas - form a government. This is not an impossible scenario. If, however, any one of the above does not join, the Likud can head the opposition only if it joins with the NU/NRP.
In his speech to party members and activists after it was learned that the Likud's standing was even lower than predicted by the polls, Netanyahu said he would remain at his post and lead the party back to greater days. This was in sharp contrast to his behavior when he lost the Prime Ministerial election to Ehud Barak in 1999, when he immediately announced his resignation from the Knesset.
However, the fact that his main competitor for party leader, Silvan Shalom, was not at his side during the speech has led to rumors that Shalom is planning to try to depose him. Shalom, in fact, did not show up at all at Likud headquarters that evening, and instead held a meeting at his home with three other Likud seniors - Yisrael Katz, Limor Livnat, and Danny Naveh.
In addition, the four did not attend the meeting of party seniors called by Netanyahu on Wednesday, the day after the elections.
One Central Committee member said, "The Likud reached an indescribable low, and a leader must take responsibility and vacate his post."
A close friend of Netanyahu, Dr. Gabi Picker, said, "When Netanyahu resigned in 1999, he was criticized for running away. He is a man of utmost integrity, and he believes he has the ability, and the responsibility, to rehabilitate the party."
MK Michael Eitan has proposed an internal party investigative committee to determine why the Likud did so poorly in the election. NFC reports that Netanyahu will assumedly not object to have Eitan head such a committee.
MK Chaim Katz, who will not be in the next Knesset, said, "Netanyahu must go. A leader who failed must leave, otherwise there is no significance to the responsibility. If Bibi stays around for another term, the Likud will drop to four mandates."
Ex-Minister Naveh, speaking this morning (Thursday) on Army Radio, refused to address the question of whether Netanyahu should be replaced. He said that his meeting with Shalom merely dealt with how to torpedo plans that have been raised to merge the Likud with the National Union/National Religious Party and/or Yisrael Beiteinu. "It would be a grave mistake in my opinion," Naveh said, "to join with these extreme right-wing parties. Our mistake in this campaign was that we became too right-wing; we ran a scare campaign without offering hope or an alternative. We have to become a moderate right-wing party once again."
Asked why he was not at Netanyahu's side during the difficult moments when the results were learned, Naveh said, "Maybe I should have been there, but that is not the point. I am with the Likud in its very difficult moments right now, working to restore the Likud to what it was."
Ex-minister Shalom has not yet spoken publicly, but his wife - journalist Judy Nir-Moses Shalom - claimed that Netanyahu's secretary phoned Shalom's secretary to invite/inform him of the speech only four minutes before the speech began. She did not explain why he was not there beforehand.
Aides to former Minister Livnat similarly said she was informed of the speech only 12 minutes before it began.
Former Minister Katz, on the other hand, has denied publicly that he is party to any attempt to unseat Netanyahu.
Some Likud leaders are in fact considering the option of merging with the NU/NRP to form the largest opposition bloc in the Knesset. Netanyahu would thus become the leader of the opposition, a formal position via which they feel the party can be rehabilitated.
MK Aryeh Eldad (NU/NRP) said he invites the Likud to join a united bloc in the Knesset. "Even before the elections I supported a large nationalist bloc that would include also Yisrael Beiteinu and the Likud. But it was Netanyahu who objected, because he wanted to become more centrist. But it can still be fixed now. Together with the Likud, we would be 20 seats - a large party."
At present, the Likud is the 5th largest party. It can assume the head of the opposition only if all four larger parties - Kadima, Labor, Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas - form a government. This is not an impossible scenario. If, however, any one of the above does not join, the Likud can head the opposition only if it joins with the NU/NRP.