The Knesset speaker hopes for another term in his current position, but in the meantime, the big winner of the Likud primary is busy campaigning for his party.

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein came in first place in the Likud primary, making him No. 2 on the party’s list for the next Knesset, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the victory didn’t really surprise anyone. He came in second place back in 2015.

Coming in first in the Likud primary puts him in a prime position to take Netanyahu’s place as party leader one day, though the competition will likely be stiff, with interim Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, former minister Gideon Sa’ar and surely others eyeing the role. And then there are the persistent rumors that Edelstein hopes to run for president after Reuven Rivlin’s term ends.

The Knesset speaker would not give a direct answer about his own ambitions, saying only that he wants to continue for another term in his current job.

“It’s a long process,” Edelstein said of whether Netanyahu’s legal woes could mean he’ll leave office soon. “I don’t know if it’s a useful thing to discuss what happens next. We have a prime minister who’s the leader of the Likud, and we’re running in the elections with him.”

For now, Edelstein is focused on making sure the Likud wins on April 9. Continue reading

For weeks now, the polls have shown that a Gantz-Lapid franken-party will surpass or come close to the Likud’s size.

Grafman came to the Knesset on Wednesday, when parties began submitting their final lists and requests for the letters to represent them on their voting slips.

Thanks to Netanyahu, Otzma Yehudit, whose name means “Jewish Power,” has a real shot.

Glick wants to take her views from the page to the Knesset in Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked’s New Right Party.

When it comes to her political views, Caroline Glick has long been an open book. She’s written countless columns that run the gamut of political issues in Israel, focusing mostly on foreign relations and national security.

And now, Glick wants to take those views from the page to the Knesset, in Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked’s New Right Party.

“The ideas I’ve been communicating for 16 years in The Jerusalem Post are the same ideas and convictions that will be informing everything I do in the Knesset, and will play a major role in determining policies in this party going forward,” she said.

Speaking from her home in Efrat on Thursday, with her two dogs playing beside her and signs of her younger son’s birthday party from the day before still intact, Glick talked about why she’s decided to make this career change. Continue reading

They rejected gimmicks and went for candidates with proven records – even if those are candidates that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t like.

The Likud had an impressive showing in its primary this week, showing a clear preference for experienced candidates with proven records, who can lead a strong campaign and help win back voters that may have considered looking elsewhere.

The results of the Likud primaries send a few clear messages as to how the nearly 70,000 voters in the party see its future. They rejected gimmicks and went for candidates with proven records – even if those are candidates that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t like. Continue reading

Likud MKs and candidates have brought out their creative sides with campaign videos. Some are funny, some are clever and some are downright strange.

With Tuesday’s Likud primary rapidly approaching, the party’s MKs and candidates have brought out their creative sides with campaign videos. Some are funny, some are clever and some are downright strange. Here are some of the highlights. Continue reading

With so many candidates and races happening in one day, there are likely to be plenty of surprises on the way, but here are some of the trends and drama in store.

The Likud primary is set to take place on Tuesday, with 113 polling places spread from Eilat in the South to Kiryat Shmona in the North, and competition in the largest party in Israel is as stiff as it’s ever been, with five candidates for every one of the expected 30 seats at which the party has been polling fairly consistently.

The Likud list is divided between national seats, which are elected by all the party’s members, and district seats, in which central committee members can vote. Then there are special seats like one for a new non-Jewish candidate, for an immigrant or for a candidate under 35. Current MKs can run only in the national seats – with the exception of Avraham Neguise, who is the front-runner for the immigrant spot – which means that a third of them are not expected to come back to the next Knesset, because only the first 23 national spots are likely to get into the Knesset. Continue reading

Israel’s alliance with illiberal regimes can be necessary and justified but not when they embolden anti-Semitic dog whistles.

“Israel’s foreign relations are at a record high,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted in the Knesset in December. “There were 300 visits by [foreign] leaders to Israel this year. Presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers, senators, leading members of parliament. A flood … We have great achievements in the world, including the Arab world that we never had before.”

This is a common talking point for Netanyahu, who has claimed repeatedly over the past year that he has expanded Israel’s foreign ties to unprecedented levels. But there is a flipside to it, a recurring theme in criticisms of Israel: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is cozying up to “strongmen.” From the newly elected Bolsonaro in Brazil, whose inauguration Netanyahu attended this month, to Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Polish Premier Mateusz Morawiecki, world leaders are lining up to meet with Netanyahu. In fact, relations have so warmed with Poland and Hungary that their prime ministers are attending a summit in Jerusalem next month, along with the premiers of Czech Republic and Slovakia. Since not all of them are democratically inclined and some are outright human rights abusers and authoritarians, this is supposed to indicate that something is rotten in Jerusalem. Continue reading

Several candidates in next week’s Likud primary are competing to be the party’s top security figure – or at least the second one after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been nicknamed “Mr. Security.”

The top contenders for the post are MK Avi Dichter and Immigration and Absorption Minister Yoav Gallant. But perennial political candidate Uzi Dayan says he too wants to be defense minister, while MK Anat Berko is also running on her anti-terrorism bona fides. Continue reading