(IsraelNN.com) The 21st and 30th slots on the Likud list of Knesset candidates, both of which are considered to have realistic chances in the upcoming national elections, are reserved for new immigrants. Eleven Likud members, including two from the Jewish Leadership faction, are running.
Meanwhile, the Likud court has ruled in favor of Jewish Leadership and against Binyamin Netanyahu, banning any changes in the way primaries will be held unless the Central Committee approves them
Founded by Oslo-protests leader Moshe Feiglin in the mid-90’s, Jewish Leadership became a faction within the Likud Party in the year 2000. Feiglin has long explained that the road to national leadership, for which he says the faith-based religious-Zionist camp must strive, runs through a large, national party such as the Likud. He believes that small, sectarian parties, such as the National Religious Party or the new Jewish Home, will never be able to provide a platform for national leadership.
Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu has made no secret of his displeasure at the growing influence within the Likud of Feiglin and his camp. Netanyahu’s successful wooing of nationally accepted centrist figures such as Assaf Cheifetz, Dan Meridor, and Uzi Dayan has been an attempt to give the party a middle-of-the-road hue – something that Feiglin’s presence works against.
Netanyahu Warned: Don’t Support Feiglin
Netanyahu even sent a message last week, warning his fellow Likud members that he would “view gravely” their participation at an upcoming Feiglin rally.
Jewish Leadership members are accusing Netanyahu and other Likud officials of trying to torpedo their chances in next week’s party primaries via a series of “tricks.” These include increasing the number of candidates for whom each member can vote; removing polling stations from areas where Jewish Leadership’s support is great, such as in Judea and Samaria; and separating the balloting for the new immigrant slots from the national vote.
Court Rules Against Netanyahu
But, the Likud Court ruled on Monday that Netanyahu's proposal to separate the balloting for the new immigrants would decrease the Jewish Leadership candidates’ chances and therefore cannot be made without the approval of the 3,000-member Likud Central Committee. Netanyahu is therefore likely to forego proposing the change.
Two Immigrant Candidates
The two Jewish Leadership candidates for the new immigrants’ slots are Shmuel Sackett and Asya Antov.
Antov, married and mother of three children, has an M.A. in mathematics and political science, immigrated from Russia in 1991, and lives in Karnei Shomron. She writes regularly for the Russian-language press in Israel, manages an internet portal in Russian for the Jewish nationalist sector, and is very active within the Russian immigrant community. Antov has been involved with Feiglin ever since his Zo Artzein (This is Our Land) anti-Oslo protests, and has also run many Likud party Russian-language activities, such as the “Russian Speaking Likud Loyalists” forum. Jewish Leadership claims polls showing her inclusion on the Likud Knesset list will significantly increase the number of votes for the Likud in the national elections.
Shmuel Sackett, 47, made Aliyah from New York in 1990. Married and father of six, he co-founded, with Feiglin, the Zo Artzeinu protest movement – the largest anti-Oslo Accords movement in Israel.
The only native English speaker running for a “new immigrant” spot, Sackett is said by Jewish Leadership to be “a dedicated ideologue and also a pleasant and sociable person, with a sense of humor and natural charisma. The inclusion of people like him with a clear ideology will increase the voters’ trust in the party. People who don’t take the time to go out and vote because ‘they’re all the same’ will take the time to vote for the Likud if they know that its list contains idealistic and loyal people like him, who will work to ensure that the Likud does not act like a pale imitation of the left.”
Ze'ev Elkin
Another of the 11 candidates for the new immigrant slot is current Knesset Member Ze’ev Elkin of Gush Etzion, who recently left the Kadima Party. Elkin said Kadima had become too left-wing for him. Candidates running for a specific slot do not forfeit their chance to be placed even higher on the list, if their vote total warrants it.
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