Former IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya’alon, today a fellow in the prestigious Jerusalem-based Shalem Center, must decide if he will enter the political arena or pass on the opportunity to land a slot on the Likud Party lineup.

Ya’alon and Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu have held a number of discussions during recent weeks but a final decision has not been made. Likud officials are indicating that if the former IDF commander opts to join Likud, he will not be given a secure slot on the party list, but he too will have to contend in the party’s primaries.

Should he decide to move to Likud, Ya’alon by most assessments will be the jewel atop the crown among the star-studded lineup of new and returning personalities, including Dan Meridor, Dr. Binyamin Begin, Yossi Peled (a former IDF major-general) and Miri Regev (a former IDF spokeswoman). It was Ya’alon who was not granted the optional yet standard fifth-year extension to his senior military post because then defense minister, Shaul Mofaz, decided to oust him due to his outspoken opposition to the disengagement plan, namely the expulsion and uprooting of Gaza’s Jewish population.

Also hoping to land a spot on the Likud lineup is attorney Danny Danoch, a former Israel Consul General in Los Angeles, who is considered close to Silvan Shalom, currently the second slot on the party list.

In other Likud news, Netanyahu is expected to inform MK Effie Eitam if he will be permitted to run for a slot on the party list. Since Eitam has not been a party member for the minimum required period, he requires the party leader’s approval for such a move. At present, there is considerable opposition to permitting the retired brigadier-general into the party for fear his hawkish views will result in an unwanted right-wing extremist stigma for Likud while the party is working hard to exhibit a moderate centrist image.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)