Netanyahu held a legal meeting with Zvi Cohen, the Likud's Elections Committee Chairman. The two discussed ways to introduce changes to the Likud's constitution which would prevent those with convicted offenses from joining the party and becoming members.
There are doubts over whether Netanyahu can in fact succeed in expelling Feiglin from the movement. He is attempting to pass the following amendment into the party's constitution: "A person who has been convicted of an offense, and sentenced to three months of prison or more, will not be eligible to stand for the Likud party Knesset list."
The amendment does not specify when the offense was committed, meaning that Feiglin, who was convicted five years ago, would be excluded from the party.
Netanyahu's effort to pass the amendment has resulted in a delay on the vote of the party's list, which has been pushed back to January 9.
The meeting on changes to the constitution will take place on January 4, and a vote on the change will take place the next day.
'There won't be any place in our movement for corruption'
If the amendment is passed, the Likud party would become more strident in its vetting procedure than the Knesset itself, which calls for a minimum of seven years to pass after a conviction before an individual can become a Knesset Member.
Feiglin is currently examining the possibility of turning to the High Court, if he is unable to torpedo the amendment within the Likud.
In 1997, Feiglin was convicted in Jerusalem on charges of mutiny, and was sentenced to six months in prison (active time), and 12 months of conditional prison time.
Holding his first Likud faction meeting as chairman, Netanyahu hinted to Feiglin that he had no place in the party, saying: "There were malfunctions committed by marginal elements in the party. I gave myself the central goal of fighting corruption, and I ordered my legal team to launch a campaign against corruption, to handle these malfunctions.”
“There won't be any place in our movement for corruption. The path of integrity and clean hands must be returned."
Netanyahu went out of his way to show that the Likud was a moderate party, saying: "We in the Likud made a peace agreement with Egypt, we supported the peace agreement with Jordan without reservation, and I as prime minister conducted successful negotiations with the Palestinians, signing a number of measured agreements.”