Edelstein wins poll of Likud activists

If the Likud held elections now for its Knesset faction, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein would be right behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a poll of party activists conducted by the Likudnik website.

Edelstein won the close contest, despite a spate of negative recent from the Knesset.

A whopping 5,459 Likud members participated in the poll, of which 2,888 voted for Edelstein, 2,883 for Transportation headlines Minister Israel Katz, 2,882 for Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and 2,881 for Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev.

Next on the list is coalition chairman David Bitan, who was unknown before he received his post but made news Saturday when he said he did not want Arab citizens to vote in Israeli elections. Bitan received 2,144 votes to beat former minister Gideon Sa’ar, who has not announced a political comeback, by 12 votes for fifth place.

The rest of the top 10 were Labor and Social Services Minister Haim Katz, National Infrastructure Minister Yuval Steinitz, Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, and Deputy Construction Minister Jackie Levy.

Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel was the second woman on the list.

The least support went to MKs Sharren Haskel, Yehudah Glick, Ayoub Kara and Oren Hazan, all of whom received fewer than 1,500 votes each.