OK, about the results of the Likud Primaries. I was right about one thing. Feiglin hadn’t a chance. His supporters kept trying to convince me that he was increasing his power in the Likud, but the truth is as shown in election results, that he’s just a postscript in Israeli politics.
Naftali Bennett’s success in changing the NRP and remaking it proves that Feiglin was barking up the wrong tree, trying to remake the wrong party. If you know anything about sewing or fabrics, it would be like trying to make a formal tuxedo out of chiffon. Chiffon just doesn’t hold its shape, and the Likud isn’t going to be the ideological party that Feiglin claimed it could be. And to be honest I think that Bennett may be opening up his NRP aka Bayit Yehudi, Jewish Home too much. I’m not quite sure what it stands for. It reminds me, lehavdil–to differentiate– how Tzachi Hanegbi campaigned for Kadima, calling it a “Supermarket,” where you can find all sorts of opinions.
It’s late at night, and I just came home from work and must work again tomorrow, so…
I think that Bibi Netanyahu must be pretty pleased with the results of the primaries. He’s the undisputed leader and many of his more reliable followers got high placements. That’s the good news for him. The bad news for him is that the pro-Feiglin voters will look for another party, either NRP or further Right or Chareidi. He and his team must find replacement voters. It’s going to get harder and harder to present themselves as Right, because after so many years of Center-Left policies, even many die-hard Likudniks (and the Feiglin supporters) realize they’ve been had!