BICOM

After two days of voting, Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan claimed the top two spots in the Likud Party’s internal primary elections.

Around 60 per cent of the Likud’s 123,251 registered members cast their votes in a poll after a glitch in the computerised voting system saw the election extended by an extra day. The Likud’s list of Knesset candidates will be combined with that of Yisrael Beitenu in a joint list which must be finalised by 6 December. As a result, those elected within the top twenty spots of the Likud list are considered to have a realistic chance of election to the Knesset.

For the second time running, Sa’ar and Erdan, both considered to be young and ambitious figures in the party, secured the top slots on the Likud list. They were followed by fellow ministers Silvan Shalom and Yisrael Katz. However, the results were widely viewed in the Israeli media as a victory for those opposed to making concessions to the Palestinians, with Danny Danon winning sixth spot, and figurehead for the party’s right-wing Moshe Feiglin placed in fifteenth.

Notably absent from the realistically electable slots were several figures who are considered to represent the national-liberal heritage of the Likud Party, including Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor and Minister Without Portfolio Benny Begin.

Speaking to Likud members after the announcement of the results, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasised the selection of “a team that represents the entire nation. Today we proved again that the Likud is the people’s party.” Addressing Begin and Meridor directly, Netanyahu talked about their common upbringing and education in the party and said, “I will maintain those values in the next government and I want you with me.”

Meanwhile, former foreign-minister Tzipi Livni is expected to end weeks of speculation by announcing her candidacy in the upcoming election at the head of a new centrist party today. Although Livni is unlikely to announce the list of candidates today, it is thought to include six or seven current Kadima MKs, plus Israel Space Agency chairman Isaac Ben-Israel and Israel’s former ambassador, and former BICOM CEO Danny Shek.