Bibi may challenge Sharon for PM
Hasta la Vista, Bibi? Barely. Outoing finance minister Benjamin Netanyahu to head to the United States on Wednesday to woo American Jewish donors to fund election campaign to overthrow PM Sharon from Likud healm
Make no mistake: Bibi will be back, his confidantes say.
Outgoing Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will head for the United States to meet with American donors this week to collect funds for a possible election campaign, insider sources told the Yedioth Ahronoth on Tuesday, as he gears up for his challenge for the Likud party leadership.
Plans for the trip were originally drawn up two weeks ago, according to which Netanyahu was supposed to deliver lectures to American Jewish donors to Israel and meet with businessmen.
Netanyahu quit his position as finance minister on Sunday in protest of Israel's planned pullout from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank, which is set to begin on Aug. 17.
He had already held a series of political meetings on Monday with members of his Likud party to strengthen his standing within the group.
Netanyahu, a former prime minister, has tried in recent months to appear as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's strongest rival and the fiercest opponent of his pullout plan, although he had backed the proposal in the Knesset earlier this year.
He has been widely expected to challenge Sharon in a planned 2006 prime ministerial election and reclaim the post he held in 1996, which he lost to the Labor party's Ehud Barak in 1999.
During his reign as prime minister, he negotiated with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat over handing over some 13 percent of West Bank territory to the Palestinian Authority.
Two Likuds?
Anti-pullout supporters make up almost half of the Likud party, and Netanyahu hopes to be able to gain the support of more than half of the party members.
If the party splits, the faction with the larger number of party members would inherit the party’s name and assets.
Sharon and Netanyahu both spoke on Monday with Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who reigns over a considerable realm of influence in the party.
Shalom was the only minister to receive immediate situation updates from the prime minister, immediately following Netanyahu’s resignation on Sunday, when the two discussed what the next steps would be. During the meeting, Shalom received a telephone call from Netanayahu.
The next battle between Sharon and Netanyahu is expected to take place at the party’s law court, which is expected to rule on a request by Sharon’s opponents to bring forward the Likud primaries.
The petition to advance the party leadership said that there were good reasons for bringing the elections forward, and that the party should not wait for the next scheduled leadership context in April 2006.
