Prime Minister Ariel Sharon did moderately well in yesterday's internal party elections, with two of his men winning in the three races. His candidate came in third in the third race, which was won by a "middle-of-the-road" candidate.
The results of yesterday's elections were as follows: Minister without Portfolio Tzachi HaNegbi will be the Chairman of the Central Committee, Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz was chosen to head the party secretariat, and Health Minister Danny Naveh will chair the Likud Bureau.
More than 91% of the Central Committee took part in the voting – a record turnout for internal major party elections in Israel. HaNegbi received the support of 54.7% of the voters, while his challenger, disengagement opponent Uzi Landau, received the remainder. The vote was a defeat for the anti-disengagement camp, which is led by former Minister Landau. He was fired by Prime Minister Sharon from the Cabinet last month because of his opposition to the expulsion plan.
The victor, HaNegbi, voted against the unilateral withdrawal in the Cabinet vote in June, but since then has lined up behind the Prime Minister in supporting the plan. He was forced to resign his position as Public Security Minister after a police investigation was opened against him for his plethora of political appointments. This may partially explain why HaNegbi has long enjoyed great popularity in the Likud Central Committee.
Minister Danny Naveh was victorious over MK Gilad Erdan by a similar 55-45% margin in the race to head the party's ideological body, the Likud Bureau. Naveh, too, voted against the expulsion plan in June, but voted in favor of it in recent Knesset votes.
It is not clear how HaNegbi and Naveh will vote when the actual implementation of the uprooting plan comes up in March 2005, if the government has not fallen by then. In any event, the plan currently appears to have the support of a majority of the Cabinet.
In the third vote, Minister Katz defeated two challengers: Sharon's candidate Avraham Hirschsohn, and the Gaza-retreat opponents' MK Michael Ratzon. The Sharon camp suffered a large defeat in this race, in that Hirschsohn, whom the Prime Minister's son MK Omri Sharon aggressively backed, finished in third place with less than 30% of the vote. The winner, Yisrael Katz, strongly opposes the plan to uproot the Gaza and northern Shomron communities, but this opposition has not been expressed in recent Knesset votes. He is not expected to take Sharon's position on many issues.
The Manhigut Yehudit faction backed three losing candidates - Landau, Erdan, and Ratzon – thus stopping their momentum in becoming a major force in the party organs. Manhigut leader Moshe Feiglin told IsraelNationalRadio's Yishai Fleisher and Eli Stutz today that he is not discouraged by last night's results:
"We are headed in the right direction by working within the Likud. For one thing, a full 45% of the votes went to [anti-disengagement candidates] Landau, Ratzon and Erdan. A third of the Likud is against both the disengagement and Sharon, while another third is against the disengagement but still accepts Sharon's leadership. We are definitely in the right ballgame - the Likud - and we have what to work on and whom to work with."
The main issue on the party agenda at the moment is the inclusion of Labor into the government coalition, which Sharon is anxious to do. The Central Committee has voted against this option, however, and HaNegbi said he will not help override this decision. The only option he sees is for another party, such as United Torah Judaism, to join first, to be followed afterwards by Labor.
The results of yesterday's elections were as follows: Minister without Portfolio Tzachi HaNegbi will be the Chairman of the Central Committee, Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz was chosen to head the party secretariat, and Health Minister Danny Naveh will chair the Likud Bureau.
More than 91% of the Central Committee took part in the voting – a record turnout for internal major party elections in Israel. HaNegbi received the support of 54.7% of the voters, while his challenger, disengagement opponent Uzi Landau, received the remainder. The vote was a defeat for the anti-disengagement camp, which is led by former Minister Landau. He was fired by Prime Minister Sharon from the Cabinet last month because of his opposition to the expulsion plan.
The victor, HaNegbi, voted against the unilateral withdrawal in the Cabinet vote in June, but since then has lined up behind the Prime Minister in supporting the plan. He was forced to resign his position as Public Security Minister after a police investigation was opened against him for his plethora of political appointments. This may partially explain why HaNegbi has long enjoyed great popularity in the Likud Central Committee.
Minister Danny Naveh was victorious over MK Gilad Erdan by a similar 55-45% margin in the race to head the party's ideological body, the Likud Bureau. Naveh, too, voted against the expulsion plan in June, but voted in favor of it in recent Knesset votes.
It is not clear how HaNegbi and Naveh will vote when the actual implementation of the uprooting plan comes up in March 2005, if the government has not fallen by then. In any event, the plan currently appears to have the support of a majority of the Cabinet.
In the third vote, Minister Katz defeated two challengers: Sharon's candidate Avraham Hirschsohn, and the Gaza-retreat opponents' MK Michael Ratzon. The Sharon camp suffered a large defeat in this race, in that Hirschsohn, whom the Prime Minister's son MK Omri Sharon aggressively backed, finished in third place with less than 30% of the vote. The winner, Yisrael Katz, strongly opposes the plan to uproot the Gaza and northern Shomron communities, but this opposition has not been expressed in recent Knesset votes. He is not expected to take Sharon's position on many issues.
The Manhigut Yehudit faction backed three losing candidates - Landau, Erdan, and Ratzon – thus stopping their momentum in becoming a major force in the party organs. Manhigut leader Moshe Feiglin told IsraelNationalRadio's Yishai Fleisher and Eli Stutz today that he is not discouraged by last night's results:
"We are headed in the right direction by working within the Likud. For one thing, a full 45% of the votes went to [anti-disengagement candidates] Landau, Ratzon and Erdan. A third of the Likud is against both the disengagement and Sharon, while another third is against the disengagement but still accepts Sharon's leadership. We are definitely in the right ballgame - the Likud - and we have what to work on and whom to work with."
The main issue on the party agenda at the moment is the inclusion of Labor into the government coalition, which Sharon is anxious to do. The Central Committee has voted against this option, however, and HaNegbi said he will not help override this decision. The only option he sees is for another party, such as United Torah Judaism, to join first, to be followed afterwards by Labor.