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Silvan Shalom declines joining presidential race, final candidates still unclear
Energy Minister Silvan Shalom made it known yesterday that he will not submit his candidacy for the upcoming election to succeed Israel’s President Shimon Peres.
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein announced earlier this week that the contest, a vote of the 120 Knesset members, will take place on 10 June. Each candidate has until 27 May to gather the endorsement of at least 10 MKs to register for the poll.
However, it emerged yesterday that Likud Minister Shalom’s name will not be among them. He was considered a strong presidential candidate, having held numerous ministerial positions and also served as Deputy Prime Minister. His campaign was hampered by allegations of sexual misconduct and although they were recently dropped by the state prosecutor, the episode appeared to derail Shalom’s momentum. He had hoped to secure the backing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to put his presidential hopes back on track and the two had reportedly met several times in recent days.
Yesterday though, it became apparent that Netanyahu would not openly back Shalom after a story to such effect was published by Israel Hayom. Shalom let it be known that he will not run, prompting prominent Likud MKs Ze’ev Elkin and Miri Regev to publicly thrown their support behind former-Knesset Speaker and current Likud MK Reuven Rivlin. There is deep antipathy between Netanyahu and Rivlin, who remains popular within the party. Haaretz suggests that Netanyahu will end up endorsing none of the presidential candidates. Other media reports have speculated that Netanyahu is encouraging former Foreign Minister David Levy to throw his hat into the ring.
Shalom’s decision not to run is thought to boost the potential candidacy of former Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik, who is not a current MK but previously represented both Labour and Kadima and has broad appeal. Former Defence Minister, senior Labour MK Binyamin Ben Eliezer and former Finance Minister, senior Hatnuah MK Meir Sheetrit are already registered candidates for the 10 June vote alongside Rivlin.