Netanyahu, Sa’ar prepare for Thursday’s Likud showdown

Erdan endorses PM; Edelstein to remain neutral

By GIL HOFFMAN
Likud MK Gideon Sa'ar speaks at The Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference;Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, November 24, 2019 (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST/ SEBASTIAN SCHEINER/POOL VIA REUTERS)
Likud MK Gideon Sa'ar speaks at The Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference;Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, November 24, 2019
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST/ SEBASTIAN SCHEINER/POOL VIA REUTERS)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud challenger Gideon Sa’ar intend to do everything possible to get out the vote for Thursday’s Likud leadership race, which is expected to be stormy.
Netanyahu packed in six rallies on Tuesday in Beersheba, Kiryat Malachi, Kiryat Gat, Or Yehuda, Gedera and Ashdod while Sa’ar met with Druze activists in the northern village of Merar and held a rally in Jerusalem.
The prime minister received a major boost on Tuesday, when Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan announced he will be supporting Netanyahu in the primary.
Erdan, along with Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, had both been silent on their endorsements until now. Erdan said, “After taking into account all considerations I reached the conclusion that Prime Minister Netanyahu is the right man to continue leading the party and the state.”According to Erdan, Sa’ar’s candidacy strengthened the Likud.
But he added that the key to victory in the March 2 general election is to unite the Likud against the Left. Netanyahu called Erdan to thank him for his support.
Sources close to Edelstein who, like Sa’ar, is a future Likud leadership contender, said Edelstein had decided to remain neutral. Edelstein is also considered a likely contestant in the 2021 race, to succeed Reuven Rivlin as president.
A day after Sa’ar’ announced that if he won Thursday’s primary he would help Netanyahu become president, Netanyahu mocked the suggestion in an interview with Channel 13. Netanyahu joked that he would be happy to become president if Israel gave its president the same power of the US president. “If Gideon Sa’ar is in favor of a presidential regime, I am too,” Netanyahu said.
Earlier, Netanyahu’s campaign attacked Sa’ar in the first personal attack on the prime minister’s competition since the primary race began. Until Now, Netanyahu and his aides had made a point of never mentioning Sa’ar by name.
“The spin of Gideon Sa’ar proves that he has aligned with the Left and the media in order to remove the prime minister from the leadership of the state,” the Netanyahu campaign said. “This is not the time for division in the Likud but for unity around Prime Minister Netanyahu.”
Sa’ar responded on Twitter by saying, “The ridiculous and unprofessional attacks of the Netanyahu campaign are regrettable. Likud members already understand that what will bring a left-wing government after the election is not changing the leadership of Likud. Such a change will bring a great victory for Likud and the nationalist camp.”
In a move that is expected to hurt supporters of Sa’ar, an internal Likud court ruled late Monday night that members will have to vote in their branches where they are registered, though in last January’s primary for the Likud’s Knesset list, members were permitted to vote in any polling station across the country.
Sa’ar had asked the court to permit voting in any station in order to maximize turnout, and supporters of Sa’ar have complained about being singled out and intentionally forced to vote far from their home.
Efrat resident Josh Weixelbaum joined Likud while he lived in Givat Shmuel and attended Bar-Ilan University. He updated Likud about his address change last December before the primary, but two days ago, he received a text message saying that he is registered in Givat Shmuel.“I am torn,” he said, “because I would like to vote and I know that it’s important, but I don’t see how it’s plausible...It’s not a vacation day from work. I can’t tell my office that I will be back in four hours.”
Weixelbaum backs Sa’ar and said that, as a solution, he is considering pairing off with a Netanyahu supporter who would otherwise not vote. “I support Sa’ar but I really don’t think [being assigned to vote in Givat Shmuel] is because of that,” he said. “[The court decision] was a strange move to hurt specific people that ended up hurting a lot more people than they intended.”