I just got my first "direct" communication from a Likud candidate for Knesset, he is also a current MK, asking for my support in the upcoming primaries. He also offered me the option to volunteer for his campaign to help him succeed.

MK Tali Gottleib (Likud) has proposed a law that is directed at Yesh Atid, seemingly in an attempt to hurt them (though I think it can only help). 

David Laniado has been fighting to be able to run in the Likud primaries tomorrow. Netanyahu petitioned the Likud court system to ban cancel Laniado's candidacy due to a conviction in 2011 for breaking into homes, and for hiding a previous crime of hitting a woman.

I am a member of the Likud. I have been for a long time.

There is some crazy situation going on how in advance of the Likud primaries, and the Likudniks are torn as to how to deal with it.

A lawyer named Yoni Jorno has announced that he is running for a slot on the Likud list. Big deal, a couple hundred other people are as well. 

Well, Jorno, it turns out, was arrested some 20 years ago for involvement in a weird kidnapping case involving a Filipino foreign worker. He was convicted, served some jail time, blah blah blah.

Likudniks are now not sure what to do with him. Let him run and let the Likud look bad? Don't let him run? It seems the ranks are torn as to how to handle the situation.

One thing I know is that they cannot really refuse his candidacy. Considering the head of the party has been indicted for several crimes and is sitting in trial for them, pushing away someone else who served his time, paid for his crime, while letting Netanyahu continue to sit atop the Likud would be pretty hypocritical. Especially because the Likud keeps repeating the mantra that the people have to be left to choose who they want as their leaders in a democracy and the leadership cannot decide that for the peoople. They say that to fight against the movement to prevent Netanyahu from running while under indictment, so they cannot now turn around and prevent this Joprno fellow from running - let the people choose.

That being said, they do not have to support him and promote him. Let him fail to earn a realistic spot like tens of other candidates.

I just received this letter form the Likud in my mailbox this morning... I was wondering what it could be, as no new date has been set yet for primaries. I thought maybe it would be announcing a discussion about new primaries, or maybe it would be a statement form the head of the Likud rallying support while Likud is in the Opposition, or maybe some other statement about the state of affairs.

According to Channel 2 News, the Arab party for Knesset and member party of the United Arab List, Balad, has held its primaries and announced the results for the next elections, whenever they might be.

The results indicate that they have had enough of Hanin Zoabi and her antics that make them look bad. Zoabi has been pushed down to what is considered an unrealistic spot on the party list. Zoabi is now number 5 on the list, while the party currently holds 3 seats total.

The most noteworthy part of this news report, in my mind, is that Balad, the most extreme of the Arab parties, is more democratic in its functioning than most of the Jewish parties in the Knesset. Balad holds primaries to decide its party list while most other parties in the Knesset do not.

so he isn't ashamed of it or trying to keep it secret....

this is the full debate from Thursday evening of the 10 top Republican candidates running in the Republican primaries for the US President nomination.

Overall it was fairly interesting, but not really relevant to the Life in Israel blog. The reason it gets posted here is because of the question asked near the end, at about minute marker 1:34:36. The question is presented from a viewer on Facebook asking if any of the candidates have received word from God as to what they should do and take care of first.

I was fairly amazed, and astounded, that such a question could be asked, and answered, in the country that has the clearest separation of church and state. I also wondered how such a question would go over in Israel, and what the candidates answers would be..  

This week the Likud is set to decide whether to take away primary voting power from its members and give the power for deciding the Likud Knesset list to the members of the Central Committee, or not.

The issue is a heated debate, with powerful people on each side of the argument.

My argument is simple.

The oly benefit I am aware of to being a member of the Likud is the ability ti gives me to vote in primaries, to think I have some sort of power in making the Likud list representative of me and of every other Likud member, and thereby making the non-representative government somewhat representative. At least I know the people chose the Likud list (along with that of a couple of other parties). To me that is worth the 45 or so NIS per year it costs to be a member.

If they take that away from us Likud members and put the power of selecting the Likud list for Knesset in the hands of the Central Committee members, what reason will I have to remain a member of the Likud? Why would I pay the annual fee? What benefit would I get from being a Likud member? I can still vote Likud (or not) without being a member, so why be a member with no benefit or power?

I figure that if they vote to take away our primary voting power, there will be a mass cancellation of Likud memberships pretty quickly. Besides for losing all that money, it will be a big blow to the Likud, the ruling party, to lose all those members. It seems pretty simple to me.

primaries in general - and especially in the Likud - were corrupt. Even Menachem Begin would not make the cut in these kind of elections. He would not be part of a primary process where people buy and sell votes.

  -- MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid)

Laid made his comments this morning, before results of the Likud primaries were known.

My only thought is that this reminds me of when Lapid formed Yesh Atid and promised primaries would be coming in the future. At the time it was not ready for primaries yet, as the party had no members yet and no institutions, and it had to get a base before opening the decisions to the public. I would even accept such a qualification now, after just two years. I could understand that the party is not ripe enough yet, not yet ready, for primaries, though hopefully by the next elections it would be.

Saying that "we just are not ready for it yet" is not quite the same as saying primaries are corrupt and that it is not a good process.

Last week the TOV political party of Bet Shemesh held what is probably the first primaries of a Haredi party.

Truth is that is not really the first, as they said it was. In Beitar the Degel faction has held primaries just a couple weeks ago, but also in years past, to determine its leader. There is a difference, as in Beitar there was national party involvement and it was not purely a primary of the people. TOV was more grassroots, even if simply because they have no national party affiliation.

Either way, it seems that TOV has already had a major influence on the local political scene. Following in TOV's footsteps, the "Shlomei Emunim" faction of UTJ in Bet Shemesh has decided to hold an abbreviated primary to determine its list of representatives that will be placed accordingly in the larger UTJ list.
(source: Ladaat)

Dovid Veiner, Shlomei Emunim

The Shlomei Emunim faction, led nationally by Meir Porush, is currently led locally by Dovid Veiner. That may or may not change, depending on what happens this week. Veiner and Shlomei Emunim have been demanding a higher position in the upcoming coalition, assuming Moshe Abutbol wins reelection, on the basis of an implicit rotational agreement as UTJ works around the country. With Degel having held the more senior positions (of the UTJ faction) in the outgoing coalition, Shlomei Emunim says it deserves the more senior positions (of the UTJ faction) in the upcoming coalition. There are rumors that Porush may be angling for a deal in which he gives up to UTJ his demands in Bet Shemesh for the more senior positions in exchange for support in Elad for his sons candidacy for mayor.

How will the primaries work, as it is only a faction of the larger party?

The Shlomei Emunim faction is made up of a number of the smaller Hassidic courts. Whoever wants to submit his candidacy to head the Shlomei Emunim list must do so by Monday (tomorrow), and on Wednesday the vote will be held.

The voting in the primary will not be conducted by the voters in the general population, who are members of Shlomei Emunim. The voting will be conducted by community representatives, divided up among the various Hassidic groups associated with Shlomei Emunim. The largest group within Shlomei Emunim is Breslav, and they get 37 representatives on the electoral body. Hamasmidim has 27 reps, and Vizhnitz Monsey has 18 reps.

With UTJ polled to increase its representation, from the currently held 5 municipal mandates to anywhere from 6 to 8 mandates, Shlomei Emunim might even get more than one rep into the UTJ faction's realistic slots.

In addition to Dovid Veiner of Sadigure and Biala, Avraham Nachman Frankel of the Breslav faction has also submitted his candidacy, along with Shimon Goldberg of Lelov. There is also talk of a Seret Vizhnitzer  Shmulik Tirer) from Petach Tikva possibly submitting his candidacy and he would move to Bet Shemesh.

According to the article, Chabad is in negotiations to join Shlomei Emunim. This would be a big hit to TOV. Despite not having any commitment yet for the coming elections, in the last elections Chabad supported TOV.

Things are getting shaken up...

I have always liked MK Danny Danon, and he's got a good clip up for his candidacy in the Likud primaries.

Picture Of The Day

Moshe Feiglin and PM Benjamin Netanyahu voting in today's Likud primaries

Whoever wins today, and no matter what the final percentages are, democracy always wins when people can choose to run and when people can vote, no matter how predictable the results might be...

Considering that today is the day of the Likud primaries (get out and go vote if you are a Likud member!), and today is also the Florida primaries in the Republican race, I decided to dig up this old picture, scan it and post it.

In 1997 Rick Santorum, one of the candidates running in the Republican primaries for the nomination to run for the office of President of the USA, came to Israel on an AIPAC mission. At the time he was Senator of Pennsylvania. I was invited to an event that he was going to be attending.. I cropped out the other people in the picture to "protect their identities"...

Me out partying with Rick Santorum

Overall the candidates supported by Moshe Feiglin and Mnahigut Yehudit did fairly well. Shmuel Sackett did not make it in, and he worked very hard, so that is a shame, but MF hit as high as #20, despite all of Bibi's maneuvering to keep him out of any realistic spots.

So overall, the Feiglin group had a very successful primary.

I did not give a list of candidates I was supporting, because who cares who I say to vote for. I want you to vote for the candidates you believe in, not the candidates I believe in. Just get out there and vote. I mentioned a few names to explain why I felt they were good candidates and deserved to win their spots on the roster, but I did not give a full list of recommendations. Also, who am I to make any recommendations? Any of these guys need any such recommendation from me? Would my recommendation actually help anybody anyway? I doubt it.

Personally I chose to support 2 categories of candidates:

1. I supported the candidates directly supported by Feiglin and Manhigut Yehudit.I felt it important for the bar on the right wing of the Likud to be strengthened, and by voting Feiglin and for his people, I felt that was the right way to do it.
2. I supported the candidates who have stuck with the Likud through its hard times. not those who are tailing along and trying to get in because of the Likud's current popularity, or because of their big names. So I supported guys like Moshe Kachlon, Gidon Saar, Gilad Erdan, Ruby Rivlin (who I happened to meet at the Bet Shemesh polling station) and others. They needed my vote, and they deserved my vote. Most of them were supported by Feiglin as second tier choices. But for me they were also first tier choices.

I am very happy with the results. My candidates all pretty much did well, and the final list looks even more right wing (rather than centrist) than I expected.

Will Feiglin's success mean anything? I don't know. He will definitely not be appointed to a ministerial position by Netanyahu, considering their relationship.

If Bibi was smart, he would look at the list and see that the Likud voters have chosen a more right wing list than a center list, and he will run his government accordingly. He would also follow in Obama's footsteps and even appoint people he fought with and disagreed with to high positions, based on their qualifications, but also to "keep his enemies closer".

But he won't. He will keep Feiglin far, and demonize him at every opportunity. he will try to portray himself as centrist.

Feiglin in the end will be marginalized for the most part. The real benefit of having him in the Knesset will be that he strengthens the bar on the right side of the scale.

The people want the Likud to return to its right wing roots. this "centrist floating vote" everyone is trying to attract is a farce.

I was speaking to a friend the other day. He is a former Likud member. He told me, when I asked him if he supports Likud nowadays, that he no longer does. They have turned from the Likud way. He said he was originally in Beitar (the precursor to the Likud), and then Likud, but later stopped his involvement because of what they did.

I spoke to him again this morning and asked him what he thought about the primary results. he was very happy Feiglin succeeded, and guys like Benny Begin and boogie Yaalon succeeded. He is not religious, he is older, and he admires guys like Menachem Begin. he is not what people consider the typical "Feiglin supporter". So his response surprised me, as the first thing he said was that he was happy about was Feiglin's victory.

I said in surprise "You like Feiglin?" and he said yes. He explained "Feiglin is honest, and he is true to what the Likud used to be."

By now many of you already know, and don't need me to tell you, that it looks like the Likud has packed a great list for Knesset. The final positioning lists are not yet final, but it looks like most Likud primary voters chose to keep the imported leftists off the list (Uzi Dayan and Assaf Hefetz) - actually they are on the list, but in unrealistic spots - down by the 40s. Of course if the Likud wins 45-50 seats, they are in.

The veterans held off the star imports for the most part and won many of the top slots. Good guys who worked hard for the past 3 years during the hard times of the Likud were rewarded by the Likud voters. They deserve it and I applaud Gidon Saar, Gilad Erdan and Moshe Kachlon for their success last night.

Keti Shitreet from Bet Shemesh won spot #33 - the spot reserved for a representative from the Jerusalem regional district. Kol Hakavod to her. I don't expect much from her, as I do not consider her overly savvy. But she has workd hard to succeed in Bet Shemesh, and hopefully she will work hard in the Knesset, and hopefully that will help Bet Shemesh and Jerusalem and Israel. Her spot, #33 is at the edge of realistic as of now. Polls are right now giving the Likud 35 sets. Obviously that can, and will, change by the time elections come around. Hopefully it will change for the better, not the worse. To remind you, Ehud Olmert was only #33 on the Likud list, and he went on to become Prime Minister!

Kol Hakavod for what looks like a developing great list of Knesset members.

We went to vote tonight in the Likud primaries.

Let me describe what we call "progress" nowadays.

It used to be that voting used the very backwards system of walking into the polling station, showing your ID, getting an envelope, going behind a cardboard screen, selecting the appropriate piece of paper with your selected candidate's name on it, slipping it in the envelope, sealing the envelope, and dropping the envelope in a box.

Very backwards, yet I do not remember the process ever taking more than a few minutes.

That is besides the next stage of counting votes. They would then have to physically count paper ballots. They had to inspect envelopes to make sure they were not disqualified for any reason. etc.

We now live in 2008, and we have finally decided to get with the times. There is no reason to continue using the old backwards system of paper ballots, when computers do pretty much everything in our lives including making coffee. The time to move to a computerized election system has definitely arrived.

The Labor party tried it last week in their primaries, and the whole system crashed during the day. The primaries had to be redone manually a few days later.

The Likud tried it today, expecting better results. Well, it worked. Partially.

The systems did not crash. There were some technical glitches, but nothing that brought the system down. There was a problem with Bezeq in the morning where a tractor ripped a fiber optic line, bringing down communications for a couple of hours, but other than that, it was overall pretty smooth. From the computer aspect, that is.

The problem was that I waited two hours in line to vote. Remember the old fashioned method? The backwards one? Where it took upwards of 4 minutes? Ahhh, those were the days.....

The biggest problem I found was the lack of any organization. The actual voting was computerized, but nothing else was. You walk into the polling station and had no idea what to do. After a few minutes I saw a friend and he asked me if I had gone to get a number. There was no sign that you needed to, there was nobody at the door giving out numbers, no way for me to know I needed to get a number, other than a friend telling me. I made sure to tell people when I saw them walk in.

The numbers were little handwritten pieces of paper with a number on it. So anybody, technically, could have written themselves a number instead of using the much higher number received from the usher.

Then, you just sat around in this big room. Voting was on the other side of the room. It was just a noisy crowd of people talking to each other. Once in a while, one of the ushers would call out a number. Most people could not hear the number called, and had no idea that their spot had just been passed over.

We sat near the front so we could hear the numbers, and there was more space for our kids to spread out and run around a bit.

Eventually someone came in and got frustrated. He started taking over. he did not really do anything except make himself feel important. he got his number and then went over to the ushers and reorganized the room. He insisted it would be more efficient for the main section of the room to be blocked off from the people waiting. So he insisted on them moving tables to block off the area. Also the tables kind of forced the people to wait in a line. Once people got into this line, they all started screaming why it was not yet there turn. People were getting frustrated by the long wait. The line really did not matter, because everyone supposedly had a number. So there was no need for a line. But he waited on the other side of the table, so he must have felt important, as though he was one of the managers and not just a regular person.

My kids were not deterred by the tables and went right under them and continued to run around in the large open space. Eventually the "important" guy got upset that they were there. he started to tell us off for letting them run around over there. he said they are making noise and we should keep them on our side of the table. I told him off saying why should they stand here in the crowded space of a few inches when they can run around over there. They are not bothering anybody. he said they are making noise. I said "They are making noise?" I pointed to the crowd behind me and said "Listen to everybody screaming, and you are upset that these kids are making some noise! They are making the difference?"

After that he left us alone and my kids continued to run around.

Eventually the line started to move and we got to vote. For me it was quick, because I came with a list of numbers prepared for the candidates I was selecting. But if you did not come with a list prepared, and only knew the names of people you were going to vote for, I could see it taking a long time behind the voting booth.

You would then have to look at the poster, find the picture of the candidate you wanted to vote, find his number, and then select it on the computer (the computer screen only showed numbers for you to select, and only said the candidates name after you chose the number). It could potentially take a long time to match the names and numbers. You had to choose 15 candidates, after all.

The whole process, from the minute I walked in until the minute I left, took 2 hours and 15 minutes.

That is progress!

With the Likud primaries about to begin, I would like to say I am optimistic about Moshe Feiglin getting in to the Knesset list, as possibly a couple other people from his list (not the general list of his recommendations - most of those will obviously get in, but I mean his limited list of four he initially recommended).

The media has given this primary the caption of being a fight between Feiglin and Netanyahu, so there is little chance of Feiglin not getting in. If he was so insignificant that he cannot win a realistic spot on the Likud list, there would be no need to declare it a Bibi - Feiglin battle.

What I have no understood is why Netanyahu played it up so much. Yes, he is afraid that with Feiglin on the list, the Kadima marketing people will brand the Likud as a gaggle of right wing extremists. He wants to be pictured as a centrist, so that troubles him.

However one person in the list being an extremist does not define the whole party as such. I do not see why it is such a big deal. At best (or worst, depending on your perspective) he will only be able to influence the party a bit by moving the bar to the right a bit. The bar will also be moved to the left by much more because of Meridor, Hefetz and Dayan. So it is very balanced, and I see no cause for concern even by Feiglin opponents. Anyway, no matter how well Feiglin places, there is no chance Netanyahu would offer him a ministerial job, so his influence will be very limited.

One of the methods used by netanyahu to lower Feiglin's chances was by increasing the amount of selections every voter has in the primary. He upped it from 10 to 15 (really to 12, but toalling 15 including the olim and regional slots).

The theory is that with more selections available, people will be less likely to choose the Feiglin candidate.

Feiglin was also concerned about that, and fought the request. In the end there was a compromise of 12 selections (plus 3) instead of 15 (plus 3).

But I fail to see why that should harm Feiglin. Adderabbe - Personally I think it increases Feiglin's chances. Now I can vote for more people and do not have to worry that I am wasting a vote by choosing some of Feiglin's recommendations. Because I have more selections to vote for.

If I had a bunch of people I wanted to support, I was ina dilemma which ones to vote for. I only had 10 choices. Somebody was going to get cut out of my ballot. Now with 12 selections, I can vote for the guys I want, and the Feiglin guys.

Personally I see the increase in selections to work in Feiglins favor, rather than against him.

Today is going to be an exciting day, as it is the first step in changing the guard.

If you are interested in voting in the Likud primaries tomorrow according to the instructions of Manhigut Yehudit (Moshe Feiglin), they have now released their recommended list, with instructions for how to vote.



I am pretty sure I will be voting almost completely according to the recommended list above. Almost everybody on the list is somebody I was going to vote for on my own anyway.

My only question remains Benny Begin. He comes with a stellar reputation, but I still get bad vibes from him. I think he is hiding some newly found ideas and directions. Everything I have read of his since his return to politics - articles about him, interviews with him, etc. all make me suspect he is no longer the right wing politician he used to be and is being touted as being.

I don't know who Osnat Mark is, and I was never a big fan of Gila Gamliel. So if I don't come up with alternate names I am comfortable with, I will vote for them. If I do find others, I will not feel obligated to vote for these two (three including Benny Begin). I would like to vote for Ayoub Kara, and perhaps I will give Yuli Edelstein one of these votes as well, because I think he has the highest integrity.