Likud Election Committee Calls For A Recount Of Votes From Primaries

The Likud Election Committee announced its decision on Tuesday, and all the votes from its primary election held last week will be recounted after major discrepancies were documented.

Major gaps were found and recorded in the official results, including some candidates receiving more votes at stations than the number of voters, as was reported by YWN-Israel.

For example, attorney Shai Galili claimed that at polling station 3 in Bnei Brak, Culture Minister Miri Regev won 274 votes, despite the fact that the number of voters in the ballot box stood at 60. At another polling station in Kiryat Malachi, Immigrant Absorption Minister Yoav Galant received 640 votes, despite the fact that only 60 voters came to the polls.

After the official results were released, the top ten lineup is Yisrael Katz, Yuli Edelstein, Gideon Saar, Gilad Erdan, Miri Regev, Nir Barkat, Yariv Levin, Yoav Galant, and Gila Gamliel. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu holds the first slot of course, pushing the others down one.

New Labor Lineup Excludes Some Veteran MKs

The Labor primaries are over and the party’s election lineup for the 21st Knesset has been published. The list finds Eitan Cabel in the 15th slot, which according to all recent polls mean the veteran MK, who has been in Knesset since 1996, will find himself outside of the next Knesset. Interestingly, Yitzchak Shmuli, who entered Knesset in 2013, was elected to the top position.

Most polls show that Labor will not get out of single digits in the next election, possible not more than 4-7 seats, depending on the poll. Following is the new lineup, up to the 10th slot, for the 21st Knesset.

1. Party Chairman Avi Gabbai
2. Slot to be decided upon by Gabbai
3. Yitzchak Shmuli
4. Stav Shafir
5. Shelly Yacimovich
6. Amir Peretz
7. Merav Michaeli
8. Amar Bar-Lev
9. Revital Swid
10. Chairman designated slot

PM Netanyahu: Right-Wing Parties Including Eli Yishai Must Unite

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday evening met with decision-makers in the dati leumi community and called on them to persuade the party leaders to unite towards forming a right-wing bloc. Mr. Netanyahu mentioned the inclusion of Eli Yishai and his Yachad party in this unity arrangement.

Netanyahu said, “Bayit Yehudi, Otzma Yehudit, Eli Yishai and Ichud Leumi must unite towards saving 6-7 right-wing mandates. We mustn’t lose these votes for at the end, it will be either a right-wing or left-wing government. The right-wing divisiveness will lead to an election loss”.

The prime minister stressed he is working all the time towards advancing such a bloc, calling on the parties to heed his words before it is too late. He told those present that “There will not be a government with Benny Gantz. I will first form the following coalition; a Likud nationalistic right-wing government.

In the same matter, Bayit Yehudi and Ichud Leumi officials on Monday announced there was progress in reaching a uniting agreement. The teams are expected to continue meeting on Tuesday, in the hope of reaching an agreement that will be signed by both parties.

Rabbonim Are Calling On Peretz & Smotrich To Unite With Other Parties

Rabbonim of the dati leumi community met in Jerusalem on Monday night in light of the deadlocked negotiations between Bayit Yehudi party chairman, Rafi Eitan, and Ichud Leumi party chairman, MK Betzalel Smotrich. The rabbonim are calling on the sides to reach agreement and unite ahead of elections to maximize the dati leumi representation in Knesset. The rabbonim also called for working to unite with other right-wing parties without mentioning them by name.

The rabbis pledged to stand behind the united party: “We believe in the great power of the public who are loyal to the Torah, the people and the land, who are interested in the establishment of the state and have tremendous responsibility and dedication to building the Torah in all areas of life”.

“We call on the entire dati leumi tzibur and all those following the path of religious Zionism to come back home and to give strength to the united party” they concluded.

The meeting was held in the Ramada Hotel. Some of the rabbonim who attended include Rabbi Eli Sadan (Rosh Yeshivat Mechinat Bnei David), Tzefas Sephardi Chief Rabbi HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Eliyahu Shlita, Sderot Hesder Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi David Fendel, and HaGaon HaRav Zalman Melamed Shlita of Beit El.

While the meeting was held in response to reports talks between Bayit Yehudi and Ichud Leumi have collapsed, the parties report progress in the negotiations towards running together in the elections as they have done in the past.

Bayit Yehudi Chairman Peretz Takes A Jab At PM Netanyahu – Sees Himself As The Next Minister Of Education

Bayit Yehudi Chairman Rafi Peretz, who is under considerable criticism of later for “making all the wrong decisions”, has now taken a jab at Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Peretz attended the Jerusalem Conference and was asked about his feeling concerning calls from Prime Minister Netanyahu calling on him to unite with Otzma Yehudit towards creating a right-wing bloc. His response, “He can unite with them. We have no problem with this. I am focused on uniting with Ichud Leumi and after that we can began expanding”. Clearly, Peretz is not interested in working with Michael Ben-Ari, Baruch Marzel or Itamar Ben-Givir.

When asked what position he would like in the next government, he responded, “I served for years as head of an IDF mechina yeshiva, educated and sent many soldiers to the army. I think in the next government, I will make a special contribution as Minister of Education”.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)