Likud primary vote recount shows massive gaps in initial tally
The ruling party's recount of votes gives Netanyahu's long-time rival Gideon Sa'ar an additional 2,259 votes; list's top five remain the same, however, with Sa'ar still securing the fourth spot; Yariv Levin was bumped up to the sixth spot, pushing party newcomer Yoav Galant down to seventh.
The biggest discrepancy was noted when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's long-time rival Gideon Sa'ar received an additional 2,259 votes, standing at 35,941 votes as opposed to the 33,682 votes he gained in the initial vote count.
On Tuesday, the Likud Election Committee announced that every primary vote has to be recounted under the supervision of observers, due to complaints of discrepancies in the number of votes cast and the number of actual voters. The complaints about gaps in the final tallies caught the attention of senior Likud ministers and lawmakers who demanded a recount.
After the votes were recounted on Wednesday, the first and second spots on the list remained the same, with Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein at the top, followed by Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, while Gideon Sa'ar was bumped up to the third place on the list, pushing down Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan to the fourth spot. Culture Minister Miri Regev remained fifth on the list.
But after Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Culture Minister Miri Regev, Sa'ar and additional Likud lawmakers appealed the results, demanding to see the initial results' form in order to compare it with the new results sheet, Erdan climbed back to the fourth spot, leaving Sa'ar just behind him, with a mere seven votes separating between them.
Ministers Yariv Levin and Yoav Galant switched places, with Levin claiming the sixth spot on the list, bumping Galant down to the seventh place. In eighth through eleventh place the ranking remained the same, with former Jerusalem mayor Nir Barakat still securing his place on the list's top 10, followed by Minister Gila Gamliel, Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter, and Minister Ze'ev Elkin.
Earlier, the chairman of the Likud Election Committee chairman, retired judge Menachem Neeman, warned that the discrepancies may be down to a mistake and not malicious intent.
"There is a big difference between the falsification of results and irregularities, which can stem from human error," he said.
