[ad_1]
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won Tuesday the powerful central committee of Likud for a series of procedural proposals in view of the upcoming elections.
The vote means that Netanyahu heads to the polls with more control in shaping the list of parties before the upcoming primaries and his united party behind him, although he will face possible incriminations in a series of investigations into corruption.
The national elections will be held on April 9th, with many parties, including Likud, holding the primaries to determine their list of candidates.
Download the daily edition of The Times of Israel by e-mail and never miss our best stories
Free registration
The committee voted 1,017 in favor and 575 in favor of the proposals.
"I thank the members of the Likud Central Committee for their powerful support for me and my proposal," Netanyahu said. "Likud is united ahead of the elections, where we will again ask the public for their support to continue leading the State of Israel towards great achievements in security, diplomacy, society and the economy.
The most controversial clause was a proposal to allow MK Avraham Neguise to run back to the place reserved for new immigrants.
The chairman of the Committee on Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora of the Knesset talks about Avraham Neguise during an event at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on October 24, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
The general party protocol claims that whoever is a seated MK needs to run on the general list of primaries. However, Netanyahu proposed to let Neguise, originally from Ethiopia, take the safe seat again even though there was widespread opposition to the move.
The committee also announced that it was freezing the members of 14 members of the "New Likud" faction and that they would not be able to run in the primaries.
The New Likudniks were founded in 2011 by the leaders of the protests against social justice, which in the summer saw hundreds of thousands of Israelis go out into the streets to ask for government intervention on behalf of the middle class. The agenda established by the group is to push the interests of the middle class into Likud. It does not take a position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
But many members of the Likud, in addition to journalists and experts, have questioned the credentials of the New Likudniks' right wing. They accused the group members of being left undercover who try to influence the party from within.
One of the members who was expelled told the Ynet news site that the move was a political persecution and claimed that they would appeal against the legality of the transfer to court.
[ad_2]
Source link
