Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been holding consultation with senior Likud members on the question of when – and if – to hold party premieres, Israel Hayom learned over the weekend.
Top Likud officials seem to be divided on the issue, with some saying primaries would serve the party best at a time when polls are less favorable, while allowing ministers to sing Netanyahu's praises in the media.
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Internal elections will also allow Netanyahu to push out individuals he would like to see excluded from Likud's next Knesset slate, such as MKs Michal Shir and Sharren Haskel, as well as undercut MK Gideon Sa'ar's position in the party.
Others in Netanyahu's close circle are pushing for the primaries to be canceled, saying they will cost the party millions of shekels that would be better spend on the next election campaign.
Many in the political sphere believe that days of Likud's unity government with Blue and White are numbered.
The coalition has to push the state budget through by Dec. 23 or early elections will be triggered. Given the constant tensions between the two parties, insiders in both say chances of the budget passing are growing slim by the day.
"Everyone understands elections are coming," a senior Likud official told Israel Hayom. "Minister and MKs are operating under the assumption primaries will be announced soon and this time, it will be hard [for Netanyahu] to argue that the snap elections preclude the need for them."
Meanwhile, Blue and White is dealing with its own internal crisis, as lawmakers have been butting heads with party leader Benny Gantz over a series of appointments he presented for government approval.
Gantz had come to an agreement with Netanyahu on a series of top appointments of functionaries in various ministries without informing Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi or Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn – the two most senior members of his party – and the move is said to have caused what Blue and White insiders called "a serious rift" between the three.
A livid Nissenkorn is said to be mulling breaking with Blue and White and forming his own faction that could join the opposition.
Should cooler heads prevail, however, Gantz is expected to again allow Likud to postpone the vote on the state budget, which would keep the strained unity government afloat, thus avoiding elections for a few more months.
Gantz seems adamant to spare no effort to reach November 2021 with the government intact, something that would allow for the rotation agreement he reached with Netanyahu to take place and would allow him to become the prime minister.
Those close to Blue and White's leader said that he has come to the conclusion that digging in his heels on the budget would trigger early elections, which – given the party's dismal performance in recent polls – could spell the end of his political career.
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