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Omri Sharon: to become a "Feiglin"?
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| By israelinsider staff November 21, 2004 |
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The Likud's 2,930 central committee members began voting Sunday morning in an internal election for senior party posts, the results of which could determine Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's future in the party and the fate of his disengagement plan.
In the race for heads of the influential Likud Central Committee and the party secretariat, pro-disengagement candidates loyal to Sharon are facing leaders of the Likud "rebel" faction.
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"If Uzi [Landau], Micky [Ratzon] and Gilad [Erdan] take the vote, the Likud is in serious trouble. We will become Feiglins."
Allies of Omri Sharon, quoted by Haaretz
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Sharon has suffered in previous month stinging party failures in the Likud referendum on disengagement and its Central Committee's decision against bringing Labor into the government. The "rebel" victories have fueled settler opposition to the pull-out plan.
The polls close at 10 pm and results are expected after midnight.
"Rebel" leader MK Uzi Landau, recently fired as a minister in the Sharon government, is running for chairmanship of the Likud Central Committee against Sharon loyalist, minister Tzachi Hanegbi.
"Rebel whip" Michael Ratzon, a former deputy minister fired by Sharon, is running for chairman of the Likud secretariat against Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz -- who also opposes disengagement -- and Finance Committee Chairman Abraham Hirchson, supported by Sharon and his son Omri.
In the vote for the Likud executive committee, "rebel" MK Gilad Erdan is running against Sharon-supporter, Health Minister Dan Naveh.
Associates of Sharon and his son, MK Omri Sharon, warned over the weekend that "rebels" could take over the party, saying that such a "takeover" could, they say, strengthen Likud "extremist" groups and undermine the party's foundations.
However, Landau and Ratzon criticized Sharon's comments in two Likud events last week in which he warned central committee voters not to allow the party be overtaken by "crazy extremist intruders" -- an implied reference to Moshe Feiglin's Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) group.
The Sharon camp is sweating it out. "If Uzi, Micky [Ratzon] and Gilad take the vote, the Likud is in serious trouble," is one of the messages being sent over the past few days by Omri Sharon's allies, Haaretz reported. "We will become Feiglins."
"There's no chance of all three winning," a Sharon associate said, "but even if it happens we won't stop the disengagement plan.... The prime minister himself has said that no matter what the results, he won't change his ways."
The trump card remains to be played. The central committee holds the power to determine who leads the party in the next elections. Sharon is likely to be challenged, and Moshe Feiglin has already announced his candidacy. Others, including Benjamin Netanyahu, may also join the fray, especially if they see Sharon bloodied in party elections and losing his internal power base.
"Rebels" object to Sharon's interference
However, speaking to Army Radio Sunday morning, shortly before voted opened, MK Uzi Landau accused Prime Minister Sharon of having attempted to take control of the Likud central committee through inappropriate means, recruiting outsiders to vote. "Those who are really trying to take control of the Likud are people who introduced South Lebanese Army (SLA) members and Kibbutzniks to the party -- people that have no connection whatsoever to the revisionist movement. We need to ask, 'Why are they doing this?'"
"It's unfortunate that the prime minister, who as chairman of the party has an obligation to be objective, is so blatantly siding with one candidate," Landau said.
"It is unfitting for the Likud chairman to interfere on behalf of one candidate or another in elections for Likud institutions," Ratzon said. "The prime minister must work to unify the ranks of the party and not to divide it. The Likud is not the movement of one man."
For its part, Manhigut Yehudit warned central committee members Saturday night that Sharon's loyalists may try to create provocations to have election results disqualified.
A Likud judge ruled Sunday morning that observers could monitor the voting and have a hand count of the results.
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