Exit polls give Netanyahu landslide in leadership vote
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, appeared to survive a fresh challenge to his power yesterday after exit polls suggested he would win a party leadership vote by a landslide.
Mr Netanyahu, 70, who has dominated the conservative Likud party for more than 20 years, was on course to win 71.52 per cent of votes against longtime rival Gideon Saar, an ambitious former minister who said the premier was no longer capable of winning elections after a series of disappointing election results and a corruption probe.
If the official tally of votes, which is due to be announced this morning, confirms the exit polls, Mr Netanyahu will lead Likud into a third general election in 12 months on March 2.
About half of Likud’s 120,000 party members voted yesterday. Mr Netanyahu later declared victory. He wrote on Twitter: “A giant victory. Thanks to the members of Likud for the trust, support and love.”
Mr Netanyahu has failed in two elections this year to win enough seats to form a majority coalition in the proportionally elected parliament. But he had told Likud supporters on Facebook yesterday: “A big victory for me in the primaries will ensure a huge victory in the Knesset [parliament] elections.”
He accused Mr Saar, 53, of organising a coup against him. Mr Saar, who has support from a handful of Likud backbenchers, is seen as slightly to the right of Mr Netanyahu and has called for an even more hawkish policy towards the Palestinians.
“We can set forth on a new path that will allow us to form a strong and stable government, that will allow us to unite the people of Israel, which is probably the most important thing right now,” Mr Saar said before the vote.
Recent polling suggests that Mr Netanyahu, who has been in power for a decade and retains support among Israel’s sizeable ultra-orthodox Jewish population, remains the most popular candidate to lead Likud despite being plagued by a raft of corruption charges.
Last month, he was indicted for fraud, bribery and breach of trust in three cases. He complains of a “witch hunt” by the police, the legal establishment and the media.
Polls also indicate that Likud under Mr Saar would likely win fewer seats, but might be more able to form a viable Right-wing coalition.
Voting in the primary opened at 9am yesterday.
Israel is locked in a political stalemate, with elections in April and September failing to produce a working government. Likud’s dominance has been challenged by Blue and White, a party led by Benny Gantz, a retired general, but neither party was able to find the coalition partners it needed.
Analysts predicted that the turnout for the next election would be low among an election-weary public.
Ofer Zalzberg, an Israeli political analyst at the Crisis Group think tank, said it would have been unthinkable a few years ago for senior Likud officials not to back Mr Netanyahu publicly.
He said that major party players already sensed “a changing of the guard”, and were “hoping that the contest between Saar and Netanyahu will create the conditions for a third party to take home the spoils”.