Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is consideing providing “quiet” support for Silvan Shalom in the race for president. According to Ha'aretz, Netanyahu will thus secure the support of 11 members of Yisrael Beiteinu, who in the past agreed to support whomever Netanyahu supported.
The term of President Shimon Peres is up this summer, and under new rules instituted recently a president can serve one seven-year term only. No candidates have officially announced their intention to run, although several names, including Shalom and Nobel Prize winner Professor Dan Schectman, are known to be very interested in the job.
A senior Likud official said that “Netanyahu has the ability to 'deliver' Avigdor Lieberman and his MKs. That is all the support Shalom needs, as the Likud MKs will naturally vote for him. Netanyahu is now deciding whether or not to voice public support for Shalom or to keep his support passive. Some people are of the opinion that public support may actually damage Shalom's chances."
Shalom's wife, Judy Shalom Nir Mozes, wrote on her Facebook page Sunday that her husband had decided to run for the office. “My husband would make the most worthy candidate,” she said, “He does not have a smidgen of corruption about him.”