World Zionist Congress negotiations leaned toward excluding World Zionist Organization Chairman and World Likud head Yaakov Hagoel and his faction from a coalition agreement for positions and portfolios in the National Institutions, after internal dispute within the Likud split the movement into different factions engaged in separate negotiation parties with other slates.
Delegates shared at the WZC convention on Tuesday that their slates had come to separate agreements with each faction, as the Likud leadership struggle between Hagoel and Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar had continued unresolved.
A source in the WZO told The Jerusalem Post that liberal and center factions had worked together to prevent the Likud from seizing the top positions among the National Institutions, but noted that the divisions in the Likud had also impacted the outcome.
Otzma Yehudit, which had been excluded from the coalition agreement, blamed the Likud’s divisions, leading Zohar to accept left-wing factions’ demands not to include National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s party.
The World Likud election dispute has unfolded over the year, with multiple delays of a conference over the process and timing.
Zohar, leading the Likud Israel faction, has reportedly grown in influence within the slate, and has pushed for elections within the Likud – which the World Likud has declined, ostensibly due to concerns about rushing the democratic process. On Friday, Zohar pushed for elections before the WZC began on Tuesday.
World Likud Election Committee head Sara Frish said that the World Likud had rejected the call on Sunday. Frish said in a Sunday statement to the movement’s leadership that there would not be an election on Monday, but argued that there was no obstacle to holding the conference.
Putting off elections
Zohar alleged that Hagoel’s faction was preventing the elections due to his weakened status in the movement – a situation corroborated by other sources within the WZC. Hageol’s camp has asserted the opposite, that Zohar’s faction was attempting to prevent elections out of fear of losing.
The Eighth World Likud Conference had been planned for August 14, but was delayed until September to accommodate the World Zionist Organization in France’s elections. At the same time, disputes arose about the Likud electoral process. The World Likud desired anonymous electronic votes for the first time, while Zohar wanted an open vote. Zohar alleged that some countries’ branches were not official Likud bodies.
The delegates were also in dispute, with some submitted by virtue of their office. There was further disagreement about who would represent the Zionist Organization of America at the conference.
The legal disputes delayed the conference, but were resolved by the Likud Israel Court on October 8, according to Frish. The conference was scheduled for October 19, and a list of candidates was finally published. The day before the conference, the World Likud announced another request for a delay.