Netanyahu faced with public challenger to head Likud party

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Benjamin Netanyahu is set to face his first primary challenge since becoming opposition leader, after lawmaker Yuli Edelstein announced his candidacy for chairman of Likud on Monday, arguing that the party might be able to form a coalition without the former prime minister at the helm.

“I decided to run for leadership of the movement because the current government is dangerous for the State of Israel,” Edelstein told Channel 12 News. “We had an election four times, Likud was the largest faction in the Knesset four times – and we did not manage to form a government four times. If we do not face the facts, we will remain in the opposition for many years.”

Edelstein said that the real choice is not between him and Netanyahu, but rather him and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid – slated to become prime minister after Naftali Bennett. “If Netanyahu failed to form a government four times, why would he succeed the fifth time?” Edelstein asked.

Even the public polls that are most bullish on Likud do not show the party and its allies reaching a majority of 61 Knesset seats, he noted.

“There are other representatives of the national camp,” he added. “I am certain that when there are primaries, after which I will lead Likud, we could form a national government without an election.”

Edelstein acknowledged that he did not expect there to be primaries “next week,” but that he hoped there would be in the coming months. “Everyone who says it can wait another three years is actually saying, ‘We will remain in the opposition for three years.'”

A statement attributed to associates of Netanyahu said in response to Edelstein’s announcement that “Likud is a democratic party. Benjamin Netanyahu was reelected as the head of Likud with a huge majority of 72.5 percent only less than two years ago. Anyone interested in running for the leadership is welcome to do so in the primaries.”

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Asked why he thought his primary challenge would go any better than that of Gideon Sa’ar, who lost when running against Netanyahu In 2019, Edelstein said that Sa’ar had been running against a sitting prime minister and that it was still thought possible at the time that Likud’s failure to form a coalition might be a fluke. “But four times is different,” he said.

While Monday was the first time Edelstein publicly announced his goal of replacing Netanyahu, over the past few months several media outlets reported that he was making the announcement privately.

In June, the Kan public broadcaster said he had discussed the matter with senior members of Likud because “Netanyahu must be replaced.”

In a September interview with the ultra-Orthodox newspaper Kikar Hashabbat, Edelstein said that “Netanyahu did everything except for one step. If elections took place in Likud for another candidate for prime minister, a government headed by Likud would be formed.”

There is currently no date set for Likud’s next primary, and is too soon to know when they might be held. Netanyahu considered holding a snap primary when the current government was formed in order to strengthen his position, but ultimately decided not to. The chances of a primary being held before the deadline for passing a state budget are considered very low, but it is more likely that Netanyahu will consider holding them toward the end of the year.