Incoming Likud MK Moshe Feiglin defended party members on Thursday who voted for
a different Knesset list in Tuesday’s election.
The Jerusalem Post
reported exclusively on Wednesday that a dozen West Bank settlements have more
Likud members than people who voted for the Likud Beytenu joint list in
Tuesday’s election, and some had three or four times as many Likud members than
votes.
The list included Shiloh, Yitzhar, Beit El, Ofra, Eilon Moreh,
Revava, Itamar, Kedumim, Mitzpe Yeriho, Otniel, Eli and the Jewish community of
Hebron.
Feiglin, who campaigned for the Likud in Judea and Samaria and
throughout the country, said it was wrong to focus on voters in one particular
region, in which most Likud members did in fact vote for their party. He said
looking into how particular communities voted violated the democratic right to
vote by secret ballot.
“In America, if you ask people who are Democrats
if it’s a problem that they vote for a Republican, they would say you don’t
understand how democracy works,” Feiglin said.
“I wanted people to vote
Likud and I did my best to persuade people to vote Likud, but if people made a
conscientious decision to put their country ahead of their party, I have no
problem with it.”
Yehuda Glick, who headed the party’s campaign in Judea
and Samaria, said that there were twice as many Likud voters than members in 90
percent of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. Likud officials
expressed outrage at settlers who voted for a hawkish Knesset slate in the party
primary and then for another party in the election, but Likud members who voted
for Bayit Yehudi or Strong Israel defended their decision.
“The Likud
should blame itself for offering a lousy product and not those who exercised
their democratic right to vote according to their conscience,” said Ze’ev
Orenstein, a Likud central committee member from Ma’aleh
Adumim.
Orenstein said he voted for another party because Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu came out in support of a two-state solution, merged Likud
with Yisrael Beytenu, attacked Bayit Yehudi and ran candidates indicted and
convicted of corruption.
The dilemma of what party to vote for hit home
for Gary and Chava Horowitz, Likud members who live in Kohav Hashahar, a
community of 171 Likud members, of which only 74 voted Likud.
Chava voted
for Likud, but Gary chose a party further to the Right.
“I want to see
Likud pushed more to the Right so I voted for more right-wing candidates in the
primary and in the general election. I also wanted to send a message,”
Gary said. “That doesn’t make me a saboteur.
I am right wing and I
believe in what Likud stands for. But I had to vote where my conscience lies,
and I can vote for whatever party I want.”
Chava said she voted for Likud
for ethical reasons.
“I still believe in Likud and Bibi [Netanyahu], and
I felt I owed it to Likud to vote for the party after voting for a very right
Likud list.”