Israel’s Knesset is expected to dissolve on Monday, with March 17 set as the date for elections, amid warnings to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he may face a difficult fight within his Likud Party to retain his leadership.
Netanyahu’s effort to re-form his coalition and avoid elections was doomed on Sunday when the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu, led by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, and ultra-orthodox parties said they would not give support.
Yisrael Beiteinu sad in a statement, “Although we believed that this is not the right time from the country’s point of view to go to elections, the option of forming a different government now is even worse. If the die is cast and we are going to elections, we must do it in a worthy fashion, without shticks or tricks or stinking maneuvers.”
Some Likud officials are saying that Netanyahu’s prime position is far from assured as the party holds its leadership election, scheduled for early January.
Gideon Sa’ar, the former Interior Minister, to expected to stand, as are right-wingers Danny Danon and Moshe Feiglin.
In recent months, Netanyahu has been sharply criticized by the right-wing, including Ministers in his coalition, over the conduct of the summer war in Gaza and his approach to the escalating violence in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The critics say the Prime Minister has been too tentative in the fight with Hamas and other Palestinian groups and must step up enforcement of “security”.
One Likud activist said after internal polls about the chances of Netanyahu and his potential challengers: “The Likudniks now understand that any donkey could bring the mandates that Bibi [Netanyahu] brings to the party.”
