Netanyahu. Needs to decide
צילום: גיל יוחנן
Will Netanyahu put freeze up for Likud vote?
All eyes are on prime minister after members of his party opposing settlement construction freeze submit petition to party's central committee chairman demanding vote on matter. Should vote take place, Netanyahu will have to exert full extent of influence to avoid defeat
The Likud members who oppose a freeze of settlement construction in the West Bank are currently awaiting the prime minister's decision regarding if and when to convene the party's central committee. The opposing members have submitted a petition with Likud Central Committee Chairman Minister Moshe Kahlon, demanding a debate on the matter. Netanyahu told Kahlon that a decision would be made on Monday.
The opposing members fear that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would reject a vote in the committee despite that fact that Minister Kahlon has the power to bring the issue to a vote. A vote can be forced if enough Likud Central Committee members' signatures are collected.
The prospect of a vote does not fair well for Netanyahu. The hard core of the Land of Israel Faithful movement consists of 500-600 Likud committee members divided between Jewish Leadership Movement members, headed by Moshe Feiglin (some 120 members), the founders' group (some 250 members) and roughly 100 Yesha men, which could also be counted as part of Feiglin's group. There are approximately 200 additional members who could be included with the right section's hard core.
The overall number of Likud Central Committee members is roughly 2,600, although in recent years only one a half or one third of those had attended meetings. Their involvement in political issues had diminished over the years due to their authorities being cut down, among other reasons.
If a vote is indeed held the prime minister would have to exert the full extent of his political influence in order to recruit his supporters in the central committee to avoid defeat. However, it remains unclear whether a vote would be indeed be conducted and what the results would be for a committee meeting to be held within a few weeks.
Likud officials who do not oppose the settlement freeze estimated that neither one of the sides are interested in creating an ideological crisis within the party.
