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| By: Associated Press |
| Published: December 19, 2005 |
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The major players vying to succeed Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as head of the Likud Party, and to rebuild a movement shattered by his departure:
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: Served as prime minister between 1996 and 1999, and is the frontrunner in the four-way race. Netanyahu, 56, left Sharon's coalition government, where he served as finance minister, to protest this summer's Gaza Strip withdrawal, despite his own territorial pullbacks when premier. He now advocates a tough line against ceding more land.
SILVAN SHALOM: Currently foreign minister, the politically moderate Shalom, 47, is seen as the Likud hopeful most likely to enter into an alliance with Sharon's new party, Kadima, if it dominates March parliamentary elections as expected. Shalom, who has built up a large base of support in Israel's poorer south, has narrowed the gap with Netanyahu in recent polls, and would be expected to benefit from a large turnout.
MOSHE FEIGLIN: Feiglin, 43, burst on to Israel's political scene in 1995 when he founded the right-wing Zu Artzeinu (This is our Land) movement in 1995 to protest Israel's peace treaties with the Palestinians. The religiously observant Feiglin, who lives in the West Bank settlement of Karnei Shomron, takes a harsh line against giving up land Israel captured in the 1967 war, and advocates imposing Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.
YISRAEL KATZ: Trailing for behind in the polls is Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz, 50, who stood in the vanguard of the Likud rebels who tried to block the Gaza pullout. He is not considered a serious candidate.
More than 128,000 Likud members are eligible to cast votes in the party primaries. Voting began at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) and is to end at 10 p.m. (2000 GMT), with results expected around midnight. To win in this round, a candidate must capture more than 40 percent of the vote. If no candidates reaches that threshhold, then a runoff election will be scheduled for Dec. 26. |
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