(Photo: Oliver Fitoussi / Flash 90)
The chairman of Religious Zionism, MK Bezalel Smutrich, responds for the first time to Benjamin Netanyahu’s plea agreement, and calls on the public to support him and contribute through the crowdfunding campaign launched two hours ago.
Smutrich shared the campaign page and wrote: “I do not know whether Netanyahu will sign or not and I have no influence on it. But it is clear to me that they sewed it up and ousted a leader here by illegitimate legal means.”
Smutrich added that “if there is a way to be a partner to more than a million Israelis who feel that their leader has been stolen and their country stolen, it is to take part in this recruitment.”
Knitwear learned that Smutrich himself also contributed to the campaign to fund Netanyahu’s trial. In about two hours since the rise of the campaign, the public has donated close to a million shekels.
Netanyahu arrives in court (Photo: Haim Goldberg)
Meanwhile, reports of progress in talks on a plea deal, which may lead to Benjamin Netanyahu’s retirement from political life, are stirring the Likud party, amid the possibility of internal elections for the movement’s new leader.
According to the Likud constitution, in the event that Netanyahu does resign, the chairman of the Likud Center will take over as a temporary deputy, and he must convene the Likud Center within 21 days. Today it is MK Haim Katz.
At this stage, the Likud Center is committed to deciding on two issues.
The first is to set a date for internal elections (Primaries) for a new permanent chairman of the Likud as soon as possible, when these should take place within a maximum of 90 days.
It is important to note that the Likud’s internal elections are taking place among all Likud functionaries, whose number is currently estimated at around 130,000 people.
The second is the appointment of a temporary movement chairman, He will only serve until the primaries, when his term expires with the election of the permanent chairman.
The real battle in the Likud center over the election of the interim chairman is expected to be heated, as it will give him a built-in advantage during the internal election campaign.
MK Israel Katz, who serves as chairman of the Likud secretariat, will try to promote himself to the position, but there may be other options in order to reduce tensions within the movement. A candidate who does not intend to run in the primaries will be elected, and thus the temporary appointment will remain in “neutral” hands.
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