Ze'ev Jabotinsky's grandson joins Likud

Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu enjoyed three weeks of good press from the return of former ministers Bennie Begin and Dan Meridor and the joining of former IDF chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Moshe Ya'alon.

 

Published 11.24.08, 09:15AM

But the euphoria from the additions and positive numbers in Friday's polls might have begun to wear off on Sunday when Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu pushed to change the election system in the Likud that passed just last week.

 

The Likud's law committee will meet at Netanyahu's request on Monday to consider allowing the Likud's 100,000 members to vote for more than 10 candidates in the December 8 party primary. Netanyahu wants to make the change because he hopes it will help block party activist Moshe Feiglin from entering the Knesset along with a supporter or two.

 

Likud MKs expressed outrage at Netanyahu, because they believe such a move would help outsiders enter the Knesset at their expense. They also said they did not understand Netanyahu's move, because it was impossible to prevent Feiglin from becoming an MK.

 

The Likud's elections committee decided to delay by a day the deadline to join the Likud's Knesset race until Wednesday to allow more people to participate.

 

Netanyahu had hoped to hold a press conference with former prime minister Yitzhak Shamir's son, Israel Aerospace Industries chairman Yair Shamir, together with the grandson and namesake of the party's mentor Ze'ev Jabotinsky.

 

But Shamir has not agreed to enter the race and is unlikely to, so Jabotinsky joined alone.

 

"Israel is facing difficult problems and needs good leadership. I hope we will get the country back on track," Jabotinsky told reporters at his press conference at the Likud's headquarters in Tel Aviv.

 

The last day to enter Kadima's race was Sunday. Seventy-eight candidates registered to run in the party's December 17 primary.