In the Likud primaries, to be held at the Tel Aviv Exhibition Grounds, the first two spots have already been chosen: Party Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, respectively. Anti-expulsion candidates such as Ruby Rivlin, Uzi Landau, Gideon Saar, Yisrael Katz and others are expected to win high places, as are MKs Michael Eitan and Yuval Shteinitz. The 22 incumbent MKs are vying for only 16 spots, numbers 3-18, because the other places are reserved for non-MKs representing various geographical sectors.
The anti-religious Shinui party, headed by MK Yosef "Tommy" Lapid, is currently expected to do very poorly in the election, dropping from 15 seats to possibly as low as 4-5. The competition for the small number of available seats is therefore very high. Despite some polls showing that the party would do better without Lapid than with him, he is expected to be elected handily to the first spot.
Competition is even fiercer in the National Religious Party, which will choose its Knesset candidates at Yeshivat Nachalim Thursday afternoon and evening. Over two dozen candidates are vying for what might turn out to be only 3-4 Knesset seats, based on preliminary survey results. To make things more tense, the first spot has been reserved for party leader Zevulun Orlev.
Vying for the remaining seats are MKs Nissan Slomiansky, Gila Finkelstein and Sha'ul Yahalom, as well as wannabes such as Youth Wing leader Chaim Falk, former MK Shmaryahu Ben-Tzur, and others. The choice will be made by the party's 1,000-strong Central Committee. A merger between the NPR and the National Union does not appear likely, but has still not been totally ruled out.
Moledet, the party founded by the late Rehavam "Gandhi" Ze'evi, realistically appears to have only two Knesset seats to fill. MK Aryeh Eldad, the party's likely #2 choice - MK Rabbi Benny Elon is first - refuses to accept that position. This is because the party's second slot is currently slated to be the 6th spot on the National Union list - much too low for Eldad's taste.
The National Union is a joint list comprising Moledet, Tekumah (MKs Tzvi Hendel and Uri Ariel) and Religious Zionist Renewal (MKs Effie Eitam and Yitzchak Levy). Eldad, a non-observant Jew, said, "The Moledet party was never parochial, but its joining with Tekumah gives it a religious image; therefore, someone without a kippah [skullcap] must be in a more central place on the list in order to make it attractive to the secular public." One possibility is that Elon will agree to trade places with Eldad.
In other political news, Likud member Atty. Yossi Fuchs has filed suit in the Supreme Court against the apparent intention to allow Ehud Olmert to fill the Prime Minister's chair. The background is as follows:
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz is likely to determine in the coming days that Prime Minister Sharon is "permanently unable to fulfill his duties," and that the government must therefore, in accordance with the law, choose someone from Sharon's faction - Kadima - to fill his place.
However, Fuchs claims that the correct interpretation of this law is that the new Prime Minister must come from the faction "on behalf of which the original Prime Minister was elected" - namely, the Likud. "His mandate belongs to Likud," Fuchs maintains, "and to choose a Prime Minister from a different party is akin to replacing the regime without elections."
The Kadima Party has been widely criticized for considering placing Ariel Sharon at the top of its Knesset list, even if he is incapacitated. MK Avraham Poraz (Shinui) called it "blatantly unethical," and criticism was also expressed in the Likud, Labor, and by political commentators.
In a surprising move, Shimon Peres will fill Kadima's #2 slot. Party officials said that this is in accordance with an agreement reached between Peres and Ariel Sharon. Following Peres will be Justice Minister Tzippy Livny.
Labor Party leader Amir Peretz called on his apparent opponents in the race for Prime Minister - Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Olmert - to join him in a series of face-to-face meetings with the public around the country.
Labor MK Sofa Landver, who joined the Knesset just a few days ago following the resignation of MK Avraham "Beige" Shochat, has now announced that she is leaving Labor. An immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Landver apparently believes that she has a better chance of being elected to the next Knesset on Avigdor Lieberman's right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our Home) party, a party for Russian-speaking immigrants.