Israeli Press
Netanyahu marks his favourites as 34 Likud figures chase 17 realistic slots
Graphic: Times of Palestine
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Likud members vote on Monday for the list that will carry the party into the 27 October election, and the Israeli papers spent the weekend counting the seats that are actually available.
Maariv put the arithmetic at roughly 34 serving ministers and members of Knesset competing for about 17 realistic places. The paper reported that Benjamin Netanyahu has already intervened in the district races, that Amir Ohana and Eli Cohen are marked at the top of the field, and that Avi Danino could be the surprise.
The harder fight, Maariv wrote, begins after the votes are counted, over the reserved slots the party leader still controls and can hand out himself.
The campaign inside the campaign#
Ynet followed the candidates through August synagogues and restaurants, in front of audiences that sometimes numbered a few dozen, and described the weapon they had all chosen: speak against the courts, the press and the universities. Tali Gotliv quoted Jabotinsky; Dudi Amsalem worried aloud about apathy; Miri Regev told listeners that people need reminding what you have done.
The same weekend, a Channel 12 investigation raised questions about the résumé of the Likud candidate Mishael Ben Ami — a lieutenant-colonel's rank, a doctorate and activity in Iran. Ben Ami rejects the claims. Maariv reported the item without resolving it.
For Palestinians the primaries are not a spectator sport. The order of names settled on Monday decides who sits in the next Knesset arguing for annexation of the West Bank, who holds the ministries that sign settlement approvals, and how much room a returning Netanyahu has to refuse the second phase of the Gaza agreement.
A campaign whose internal contest rewards attacks on the courts is also a campaign in which the one Israeli institution that occasionally restrains the settlement enterprise is the thing candidates are competing to weaken.
