Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party will hold a leadership vote, apparently in around six weeks, as pressure mounted on the veteran leader to step aside after his indictment on corruption charges.
The prime minister on Sunday night informed the head of the Likud Central Committee MK Haim Katz, however, that he will not permit a snap primary after Netanyahu's key challenger, MK Gideon Sa'ar, had called for one.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Sa'ar's call constitutes the main and, so far, only opposition to the prime minister's role from within the Likud ranks.
"There is only one way in which we can save the country, extricate it from the crisis and ensure the Likud's continued rule – and that is if we go to snap primaries today, within these 21 days," he told Channel 12 News.
Sa'ar wrote on Twitter that he "welcomes the prime minister's agreement to hold primaries for party leadership."
He has previously said he would consider running for the top Likud slot.
While voicing appreciation for Netanyahu's record-long term and noting he was innocent until proven otherwise, Sa'ar criticized the premier's attempts to cast his criminal prosecution as a "coup attempt" involving police, prosecutors and the media.
"Not only is it wrong to say that, but it's also irresponsible to say that. It's completely out of touch," Sa'ar said.
The Likud party spokesman earlier in the day dismissed the challenge.
"It is sad to see that while Prime Minister Netanyahu keeps Israel safe on all fronts and works to preserve Likud rule, Gideon Sa'ar, as is his wont, is displaying zero loyalty and maximum subversion," the spokesman said.
A senior Likud official told Israel Hayom that Netanyahu's agreement to hold primaries was meant, in part, to thwart the possibility that someone from the party's back seats could defect or join Blue and White if he or she feels their place in the Knesset is no longer secure.
Earlier on Sunday, Netanyahu received an internal boost from Likud MK and former Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat, who said: "The call to conduct primaries for the leadership of the party is an attempt to oust the premier, while disregarding completely the wish of the majority of Likud members."
In an apparent dismissal of Sa'ar, Barkat maintained that "national responsibility obliges us to foil attempts of division from inside and out."
The ex-mayor continued his attack, albeit not addressing Sa'ar by name directly, saying, "There are members from within who are coordinated quite openly in their messages with Knesset members from the Left, trying to pressure Likud members to defect and form a leftist government."
"We have to strengthen the prime minister, we have to be at his side," Barkat said, adding that Netanyahu is innocent until proven guilty "especially as severe investigation flaws were exposed."
Barkat gave Katz his own proposal for nominating a deputy to Netanyahu who would take his place should he be forced to take a leave of absence.
"Electing and appointing a vice chairman at this time will guarantee support for party leader Benjamin Netanyahu and enable unity in the party and continuity in the government if Netanyahu will be incapacitated," Barkat said. "It could also in parallel enable the formation of a unity government."
In response to Barkat, Sa'ar took to Twitter Sunday night and told the former mayor, who at the time was a member of the now-defunct Kadima party, that he "must learn that Likudniks cannot be bought with money, and leadership cannot be acquired with zigzags.
Barkat tweeted back that Sa'ar should be ashamed of himself for not showing loyalty to Netanyahu at a time of crisis and instead "panicking, losing his mind and engaging in the lowest personal attacks against the prime minister and against me."
Netanyahu's indictment last Thursday came amid political disarray in Israel, after neither Netanyahu nor his main challenger in the general election, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, secured a majority in parliament in April and September votes.
Netanyahu has denied the charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust and said he would stay in office and defend himself.
The four-term conservative leader projected business as usual on Sunday, touring the country's northern frontier and speaking about Iranian threats.
The Supreme Court dismissed a petition by a watchdog group to force Netanyahu to step aside.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel had said in its court filing that the first criminal charges against a sitting prime minister constituted "the crossing of a red line and a grave blow to public trust in ruling institutions."
The court dismissed the petition to force Netanyahu to resign or temporarily recuse himself from office. It said the watchdog had not yet exhausted other avenues, such as petitioning Netanyahu directly and Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit.
For his part, Netanyahu kept his focus on security and toured the Golan Heights with top military brass.
"I am doing everything needed to carry out government work, cabinet work ... in all necessary ways, to ensure the security of the citizens of Israel and the things that are crucial for Israel," he said in a video statement.
He reiterated concerns over Iran's attempt to entrench itself militarily in a number of Middle East countries and said Israel "will act to prevent Iran's attempt to make Iraq and Yemen bases for rocket and missile launches against Israel."
But news coverage remained focused on the political challenge. Commentators said other court petitions could follow.
Gantz's mandate to form a government – after an unsuccessful attempt by Netanyahu to do so – expired on Wednesday. The next day, President Reuven Rivlin declared a three-week period in which lawmakers can nominate one of their own to try to put together a ruling coalition.
Should that fail, a new election – Israel's third in a year – will be triggered.
