The list of Netanyahu’s potential successors in the Likud is getting longer as the contacts for a plea deal progress. Regardless of their chances, so far the names of the candidates have come up, partly by themselves and partly by others by: Avi Dichter, Yuli Edelstein, Miri Regev, Tzachi Hanegbi, Amir Ohana, Yariv Levin, Eli Cohen, Gilad Ardan, Danny Danon, Israel Katz and Nir Barkat. In the next paragraphs we will address four of them, what strengths do they bring and where do they fall from the other candidates?
Nir Barkat
Although he is only in ninth place on the Likud list, Barkat wins the most seats in almost all polls. Barkat has been preparing the ground for many years for a moment, he conducts surveys, analyzes data and raises funds and arrives very prepared for the battle of succession. It is surrounded by a large team that has been investing its entire being in the Likud leadership elections for several years now, whatever they may be. However, he does not forget to express himself ideologically, presents comprehensive plans, thinks long-term and is in pious contact with right-wing organizations such as the Movement for Governance and Democracy and the Ecclesiastical Forum who build plans for the future according to his values.
Barkat came in ninth place in the primaries, his voters are mostly defined as “free”, those who do not depend on function lists and belong to MKs but choose him of their own free will and see Barkat as an option for the next leader.
Half a year ago, he initiated a huge conference in the exhibition grounds at an estimated cost of over 700,000 shekels, to which 4,000 people were invited, including branch heads, center members, ministers and MKs of the Likud, He was unable to do so, and sharpened the two camps that are becoming fortified within the Likud. Barkat’s side with his old rival camp, Israel Katz. Because he gets sympathy thanks to the financial investment, not the substantial one.
Barkat hardly responds to political events, but only in purely ideological cases. Unlike some of his party members, he also avoids speaking as passionately as they do and prefers a stately and tie-dyed way. Like Katz, Barkat will also have to deal in the campaign with the question of the move to Kadima and his current political positions, which he insists on declaring and declaring that he is on the right – full and full.
Yariv Levin
You have not heard it from him, not even from his associates, but the man closest to the Likud today to Netanyahu may very well be the declared successor, at least from the chairman’s point of view. Levin is a smart and shrewd man, signed to quite a few strategic moves by the Likud in the elections and in the Knesset, and one of the few who even these days – of contacts for a plea deal, talks to Netanyahu.
In addition, Levin is on good terms with the vast majority of the faction’s members and tries to respond to their inquiries. His political-legal doctrine is consistent with Netanyahu’s and is consistent and unchanged. He is also treated with respect and esteem by his political opponents, and is considered a business man. However, these charisma and leadership are not the salient features of it, which raises the question, will it be possible to choose it anyway?
Unlike the other candidates, Levin does not have the impression of a security guard, he was not a member of the security cabinet but did serve as chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. However, as stated, this is not enough. His power is measured by the “free” voters, which can not yet be estimated, since he has not yet declared his candidacy, if at all.
Israel Katz
In addition to his positions as a Knesset member and a veteran and senior minister, Katz also serves as chairman of the Likud secretariat, a position for which he was elected twice, the first time in 2004 and the second time in 2013. Throughout his years in the Likud, he gained a great deal of power and control among the members of the center, which led to his election in the primaries in fourth place. This is also the reason why he is now in favor of an election in the center for a temporary chairman, and believes that from there the road will be paved for him in the primaries for a permanent chairman as well.
Even in the two years of the election campaigns in which it was necessary to pass resolutions regarding armor that would be available to Netanyahu, or a merger with other parties that came at the expense of Knesset members from the list, he managed to do so without serious objections. There is an argument that says that due to his high status at the center, many of the MKs do not want to quarrel with him.
He recently managed to produce a uniform line with the duo Dudi Amsalem and David Bitan in order to double his power in the center. For example, Katz appointed Nimrod Sabah, Amsalem’s adviser, on his behalf, to a committee that will decide the status of the new Likudniks together with Bitan. Bitan recently said that Israel Katz has been his friend for 25 years, Save the place at the election headquarters. “
Katz is a stumbling block. Although he remained loyal to the Likud and did not retire to Kadima despite his previous positions as Ariel Sharon’s assistant, he initially voted for the disengagement plan, and then in the final vote was absent from the plenum, and did not oppose or resign.
He is in historical contact with Netanyahu, went through bumps and crises along the way, and remained loyal to him. Katz defended him during the suspicions against him, strengthened him and was one of those who stood behind him when he first came to Saladin. From time to time, dinners were held with his wife and the Netanyahu couple.
July Edelstein
In the Knesset plenum, Netanyahu and Edelstein are sitting side by side. This did not prevent the former Knesset Speaker from announcing his intention to run against Benjamin Netanyahu for the Likud leadership three months ago. He was elected first in the party’s primaries, and is highly regarded as a result of his stately and respectful perception. There are differences of style between him and Levin and Katz. He, for example, refrained from going to court and even condemned it, however, there is an argument that his conduct around the High Court and his refusal to obey the verdict undermined his representation.
At the basis of Edelstein’s move is the internalization of the claim that Netanyahu will bring the party the most seats, but is no longer able to return power to it. Unlike his friends who stated that they would run only the day after Netanyahu, Edelstein fearlessly announced that he would run against him as soon as primaries were held. The thought is that there are quite a few voters who are tired of Netanyahu, but still see the Likud as their home and he wants to reach them.