Differences of opinion appear to be in effect regarding the extent of Ariel Sharon's lead over Binyamin Netanyahu in the race for Likud party leader. A poll released today shows that Prime Minister Sharon has opened up a 17-point lead over Foreign Minister Netanyahu, while other polls championed by Netanyahu show that the gap is only 6 or 7 percentage points. It appears that Netanyahu's strategy is to attack Sharon for his support for a Palestinian state, while Sharon will respond by saying nothing.
The above survey also claims that that 56% of Likud members prefer a national unity government with Labor to a narrow right-wing coalition. Over 300,000 Likud members are eligible to vote a week from today for their new party leader - Sharon, Netanyahu, or Moshe Feiglin. The winner is expected to become Israel's next Prime Minister following the national elections on Jan. 28.
Netanyahu is pressuring Moshe Feiglin, head of the Jewish Leadership faction, to withdraw his candidacy, and his campaign staff is phoning all Likud members in Yesha on this matter. At least one Jewish Leadership member says that even if Feiglin withdraws, many of his supporters are evenly divided between Sharon and Netanyahu. Feiglin, explaining why he will not withdraw, wrote this week:
"On the face of it, it would seem be preferable to support the lesser evil than to engage in an unrealistic contest… No intelligent reader has failed to see time after time how the Right has come to power yet has adopted the political stance of the Left. No intelligent reader really and honestly expects that one of these twins [Sharon and Netanyahu], who have each already fallen into the Leftist "ground zero", will suddenly turn into something else.
"But why should we complain about Sharon and Netanyahu? We have ourselves fallen into the very same trap and adopted the Leftist way of thinking. After all, what does the (moderate) Left say to us? They say, "Now isn't the time" - now is not the time to establish settlements or to fight. Now is not the time for truth. And what do those who want me to withdraw from the contest say? Do they say that I'm wrong? Certainly not! They say the same thing as the Left: "Now is not the time." Those who are enslaved by the present have no chance of one day arriving at the proper time”. The time must be brought. This enslavement to tactical considerations while ignoring the real strategy has led the national camp from bad to worse. Will we also permit the expected victory in the coming elections to turn into a defeat?
"… The rapid disintegration in the Israeli political and social scene will inevitably lead to fresh elections within another year or two. The small child to which Jewish Leadership gave birth will then stand on its own feet and at the critical point in time of the encounter between the national disintegration and Jewish Leadership's growth, this young lad will assume the leadership of Israel…"
A group of Likud Central Committee members has filed a petition to the Likud Party court demanding that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon be made to uphold the official party position opposing the creation of a Palestinian state. The petitioners claim that the Likud constitution, its platform, and a recent vote by the Likud Central Committee all clearly oppose a PLO state, and that even a Likud chairman and/or Prime Minister may not act in opposition to this stance. Netanyahu has made this a major telling point of his campaign, while Sharon has refused to address it thus far.
The above survey also claims that that 56% of Likud members prefer a national unity government with Labor to a narrow right-wing coalition. Over 300,000 Likud members are eligible to vote a week from today for their new party leader - Sharon, Netanyahu, or Moshe Feiglin. The winner is expected to become Israel's next Prime Minister following the national elections on Jan. 28.
Netanyahu is pressuring Moshe Feiglin, head of the Jewish Leadership faction, to withdraw his candidacy, and his campaign staff is phoning all Likud members in Yesha on this matter. At least one Jewish Leadership member says that even if Feiglin withdraws, many of his supporters are evenly divided between Sharon and Netanyahu. Feiglin, explaining why he will not withdraw, wrote this week:
"On the face of it, it would seem be preferable to support the lesser evil than to engage in an unrealistic contest… No intelligent reader has failed to see time after time how the Right has come to power yet has adopted the political stance of the Left. No intelligent reader really and honestly expects that one of these twins [Sharon and Netanyahu], who have each already fallen into the Leftist "ground zero", will suddenly turn into something else.
"But why should we complain about Sharon and Netanyahu? We have ourselves fallen into the very same trap and adopted the Leftist way of thinking. After all, what does the (moderate) Left say to us? They say, "Now isn't the time" - now is not the time to establish settlements or to fight. Now is not the time for truth. And what do those who want me to withdraw from the contest say? Do they say that I'm wrong? Certainly not! They say the same thing as the Left: "Now is not the time." Those who are enslaved by the present have no chance of one day arriving at the proper time”. The time must be brought. This enslavement to tactical considerations while ignoring the real strategy has led the national camp from bad to worse. Will we also permit the expected victory in the coming elections to turn into a defeat?
"… The rapid disintegration in the Israeli political and social scene will inevitably lead to fresh elections within another year or two. The small child to which Jewish Leadership gave birth will then stand on its own feet and at the critical point in time of the encounter between the national disintegration and Jewish Leadership's growth, this young lad will assume the leadership of Israel…"
A group of Likud Central Committee members has filed a petition to the Likud Party court demanding that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon be made to uphold the official party position opposing the creation of a Palestinian state. The petitioners claim that the Likud constitution, its platform, and a recent vote by the Likud Central Committee all clearly oppose a PLO state, and that even a Likud chairman and/or Prime Minister may not act in opposition to this stance. Netanyahu has made this a major telling point of his campaign, while Sharon has refused to address it thus far.