Benny Begin reserved 11th spot in Likud Knesset list
Netanyahu planned to keep spot for woman, but ended up pushing world-renown terrorism expert Dr. Anat Berko down to 23rd spot.
Less than 12 hours before the deadline for parties to submit their Knesset lists for the 2015 elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided on Thursday to reserve the 11th spot on the Likud list to former minister Benny Begin.
"I heard your criticism yesterday and I ask that you concentrate: I'm proposing Benny Begin for the 11th spot," Netanyahu said at the party secretariat.
The proposal was received with applause, and all but one voted in favor.
Begin, 72, a geologist and the son of former prime minister Menachem Begin, was a member of Knesset from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, most of that time in the Likud party. He was the Minister of Science in the first Netanyahu government for a short period of time, but quit following the signing of the Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron.
He returned to political life ahead of the 2009 elections, and was appointed a minister without portfolio in the second Netanyahu government. However, he was pushed to an unrealistic spot in the Likud list in the 2012 primaries and was eventually not elected to Knesset.
On Wednesday night, the members of the Likud secretariat forced a secret vote on the prime minister's proposals of candidates for the reserved spots, but Netanyahu postponed the vote at the last moment, likely out of concern his proposals would be rejected.
Earlier, the recount of votes at the Likud ended, with Tzipi Hotovely winning the battle for the 20th spot, leaving Avi Dichter on spot 26.
Initially, Netanyahu intended to reserve the 11th spot for a woman - world-renown terrorism expert Dr. Anat Berko - as well as the 23rd spot - for Dr. Limor Samimian-Darash. But after Begin secured the 11th spot, both women were pushed further down the list. Samimian-Darash is considered close to former Likud minister Gideon Sa'ar, and some say this was why Netanyahu pushed her further down the list.
The chairman of the Likud secretariat, Minister Israel Katz, said that "the Likud secretariat made the right decision. Benny Begin is the real Likud. The final Likud list is excellent, varied and represents all sectors. Together we will win the elections and continue leading the state of Israel."
