Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected on Sunday to light the Hanukkah candles in a special ceremony attended by lawmakers from his Likud party. The question on everybody's mind is whether MK Gideon Sa'ar, who was resoundingly defeated in the Likud leadership elections on Thursday, will attend the event as well.
Likud officials hesitantly made a statement clarifying the matter. "All Likud MKs are welcome to the ceremony," said the statement.
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Likud MK Gideon Sa'ar following his loss in the party primary on Thursday
(Photo: Moti Kimchi )
Nonetheless, Sa'ar's future in the party remains uncertain.
After the official results of the internal party vote, giving Netanyahu 72.5% of votes, became official early Friday morning, some Likud members and officials immediately began debating whether Sa'ar should pay a price for challenging the prime minister.
The debate has split the party members into two camps, those who believe he should be reprimanded for daring to challenge Netanyahu and those who want unity in the Likud ranks ahead of the national vote on March 2.
Likud MK and Tourism Minister Yariv Levin has on Sunday morning aligned himself with the second camp, claiming the party cannot afford to enter the election campaign internally split. "There is no option for us to give up on him [Sa'ar] or any of his supporters."
Many party members, however, call for Sa'ar to be "punished" for attempting to dethrone Netanyahu and for suggesting the prime minister should resign and run for the largely ceremonial role of the country's president.
"If he [Sa'ar] continues to make mistakes, he will be erased," said a senior Likud official. "There is a lot of resentment for approach and his proposal to appoint Netanyahu president if he resigns. If I were him, I would take a vacation and think about what I'm going to do next."
Those within Sa'ar's camp state that regardless of his loss, over the past decade he has received the highest number of votes in a direct race with Netanyahu for the party's leadership.
"His campaign and candidacy have strengthened his position as a potential party leader," said an official within his camp. "Everybody, not just Netanyahu, worked against him in a vicious manner in an effort to get rid of him. We must remember that he hasn't said his last word. He still is strong within Likud."
Netanyahu is expected this week to announce his resignation from several ministerial portfolios, among them welfare, agriculture, and diaspora affairs following a petition to the High Court of Justice.
It would be interesting to see whether Sa'ar would be among those to become a caretaker minister for one of those posts.