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Netanyahu avoids Likud challenge over Yisrael Beitenu alliance
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday evening managed to avoid a vote from taking place at the Likud Party’s Central Committee convention which would have endangered Likud’s alliance with Yisrael Beitenu.
The convention, which took place in Tel Aviv, was widely expected to be a hostile forum for Netanyahu and his appearance at the event was only confirmed at the last minute. The institutions of Netanyahu’s Likud Party are increasingly dominated by its right-wing and the popularity among Likud activists of figures such as Central Committee Chairman and Deputy Defence Minister Danny Danon is viewed as a challenge to Netanyahu.
Danon had planned to hold a vote during yesterday’s convention on whether Likud should maintain its alliance with Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu. The two parties joined forces a year ago ahead of January’s election, in what was originally touted as a temporary merger. However, they have continued to operate closely as a single Knesset faction since the election. Yisrael Beitenu’s influence is viewed by Danon and others as an affront to Likud’s independence. However, splitting the alliance could unsettle Netanyahu’s coalition, leaving Likud with just 20 Knesset seats, one more than Yesh Atid.
In the event, Netanyahu’s representatives persuaded an internal Likud court to postpone a vote on the issue, although Danon said the idea could be revived as early as the next Central Committee convention in February. Danon commented, “We are a democratic party and majority rule will decide our fate.” Last month, Lieberman announced that Yisrael Beitenu would also delay any decision on the Likud-Beitenu alliance.
Meanwhile, in his speech to the convention yesterday, Netanyahu reiterated his determination to thwart “the relentless attempts by Iran to become a country armed with nuclear weapons.” It was a message he echoed again in a meeting in Jerusalem with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, saying “We believe that for the peace of the world… Iran must be denied the capability – I stress the word – the capability to develop nuclear weapons.”