יום רביעי, א׳ אב תשפ״וWednesday, July 15, 2026
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By Barry Rubin
Netanyahu’s impending victory is due to the fact that the prime minister has done a reasonably good job, the economy is okay, terrorism is low, he’s kept out of trouble.
By JTA
“I’m almost convinced that he’ll come out innocent."
Yesha Council Chairman Dani Dayan appears in a pro-Likud video clip.
It cannot be claimed it is fair for one party to attack another, but not for the other to attack back...
In 1992, the Tehiya Party brought down Shamir's government over the Madrid Conference, leading to Labor's victory and the signing of the Oslo Accords.
A selection of videos from the Israeli election commercials.
'This was an excellent government for the settlements,' Dani Dayan said.
The average of last week's nine polls in Israel
In a 12 year struggle, we have led the Religious Zionists deep into the ruling party. The Likud, in turn, gladly opened its gates wide.
By Yair Shamir
A Palestinian state would not only fail to bring peace and stability to the region, but would increase the tension and instability to the region.
There is as little chance of the conditions described in the poll being fulfilled as there being a porcine airlift.
It is amazing to see how the same people can be deceived time and again.
By Rafi Farber
Why it makes absolutely no difference how many seats the Jewish Home party gets.
The biggest obstacle to peace, of course, is the Palestinian intention to establish an Arab state from the river to the sea.
While the Israeli media wrongly claimed that the Likud had made an extreme shift to the right in recent primaries, some commentators were correcting in observing the existence of a deal-system. (Part IV in a series about the Likud primaries).
The right of center parties continue to maintain their lead, albeit by a slightly smaller margin in eight polls released December 9-15.
Likud MK Tzipi Hotovely celebrated her victory in the Likud primaries.
In depth analysis of the Likud's final list for the Knesset (part II in a series).
In depth analysis of the Likud's final list for the Knesset (part I in a series).
Danon came fifth in the primaries, which often means a ministerial position.
MK Aryeh Eldad (Strength to Israel) and Knesset candidate Moshe Feiglin (Likud) traded barbs today over ideological purity and compromise in politics.
By Moshe Herman
Yishai broadcasts from Jerusalem's International Convention Center to talk about the Likud Primaries.
By Moshe Herman
Yishai and Malkah broadcast from their place in line to vote in the Likud Primaries. They discuss candidates on the list and also what its like to vote in Israel. Yishai also interviews Moshe Feiglin
"Fascist".... "Radical"... "Ultra-nationalist"....these words were used over and over again by Channels 1, 2, and 10 TV. It seems the mainstream media in Israel is upset by what the people want.
Due to computer glitches that have prevented many Likud members from voting, Likud primary elections which were originally extended until midnight on Sunday, have now been extended to 9 PM on Monday. Only 16% of Likud members were able to vote by 4 PM on Sunday and only 40% succeeded by 9 PM. Some Likud […]
Voting got off to a sluggish start with technical difficulties.
The Likud party is holding primaries on Sunday. The race is going to be a closely watched, as both candidates and voters look to see how the fallout from Operation Amud Anan affect the outcome. With so many Israelis upset with how the operation against Hamas concluded, that anger might provide a boost for the […]
Ma'ariv reports that the Hadash Movement is planning to to hold a demonstration tomorrow opposite Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv against the IDF operation in Gaza. MK Muhammed Berachah, the Chairman of Hadash, reportedly said "Netanyahu is creating another round in the cycle of blood for the sake of Zionist political interests."
On Tuesday night, around 100 English speaking Likud members and supporters got to hear MK Tzipi Hotoveli, MK Gila Gamliel and Jerusalem City Council member Yair Gabai address some of the major issues of the day, in English. The event, which was held at the Ramada Hotel in Jerusalem, and lasted over two hours, was […]
Noam Shalit has officially thrown his hat into the political arena and is running for a spot in the Labor party, with the goal of removing the Likud from power.
On October 15, the Knesset voted unanimously to dissolve itself. Elections will be held on January 22, 2013. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to take the step after realizing he could not obtain a majority for his proposed budget.
The hype over a potential independent Knesset bid by popular Likud Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon has been quashed with news that Kahlon is putting his name behind prime minister and Likud chief Binyamin Netanyahu and announced that he will not abandon the party.
By Rafi Farber
It looks like Moshe Kahlon, the popular and vaunted Likud Minister of Communications, will be the second consecutive Likud Central Committee Chairman to leave the party looking for more power. The first one, Tzahi Hanegbi who left to Kadima and was charged with handing out jobs to cronies and nearly convicted of perjury, is now back in Likud because Kadima has entirely crashed. He’s looking for a slot on Likud’s Knesset roster.
Israel's political party conventions make the Knesset seem polite and tame. At the Likud Central Committee convention the other day, the vote for PM Netanyahu's proposal for the Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu to run together in the upcoming election was conducted by a "show of hands" popular vote. Not the best way to hold a vote.
By Moshe Herman
Yishai and guest Mordechai Taub talk about the pact between Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu and other current events within the Israeli government.
Netanyahu said that the decision to run together won't change the Likud, but it would allow the Likud to change the State of Israel. But the new joint list will receive only 42 seats in the next Knesset elections next January, a Channel 2 News poll found on Sunday. It means that the parties will retain their current power.
In an unexpected move, 10% of the Likud Central Committee members gathered enough signatures to demand a secret ballot on whether or not to run on a joint list with Yisrael Beiteinu.
The merger of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and the Yisrael Beiteinu party of Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman on Thursday has left-wing parties scrambling for a solution to the sudden show of solidarity on the part of the pro-nationalist camp.
In a move that took everyone by surprise, including their own party members, Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party and the Likud have joined forces ahead of the upcoming elections and will be running as a joint list.
Jeremy Saltan's combined weekly poll average from Oct 14-20 shows the Likud with 28 seats, down from the prior week's average of 29 seats, Kadima remains at 6, and Yisrael Beitenu is down to just about 13 seats.
The poll also shows that the Likud-Liberman-Haredi bloc would maintain its majority in any possible scenario, no matter what combinations of left and center parties it faces.
Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and former Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni may be throwing their hats into the political arena once more, teaming up to attempt to defeat the nationalist camp headed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
JERUSALEM – With the 18th Israeli Knesset dispersed and new national elections set for January 22, 2013, Israel’s various political factions began preparing for what is expected to be a brutal campaign to elect a new 120-seat parliament. Following the elections President Shimon Peres will ask a newly elected MK, presumably from the largest faction, to form the next government.
The method of the primaries for the Likud's Knesset list was drafted by the Likud's Constitutional Committee last night and is set to be approved by the party's Central Committee this evening in Ganei HaTa'aruchah in Tel Aviv. The scheme does not include the reserving of secure spots on the list - spots within the number of seats Likud is certain to win - for candidates chosen by Prime Minister and Party Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu. It was rumored that Netanyahu wanted such spots for Defense Minister Ehud Barak and possibly other members of Barak's Independence faction which broke off from Labor.
Israeli elections will take place on January 22, 2013, according to an announcement made by the Israeli cabinet on Sunday.
MK Danny Danon (Likud) on Saturday night asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire Defense Minister Ehud Barak, in response to the latter's remarks against the Likud. "Barak is a dying breed. His wacky statements are the symptoms of his being a political corpse. He used to head the government and now he heads only […]
At an election event held in the backyard of Moshe Feiglin in Karnei Shomron, a new alliance has been announced.
By JTA
Likud Party lawmaker Tzipi Hotovely reportedly petitioned Israel's Central Elections Committee to prevent former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert from running for office.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s call to disband the government and call for new elections may serve him well, if two public opinion polls published Thursday pan out.
Following Naftali Bennett's reported statement that he won't allow three-fourths of the National Union party to run with the Jewish Home, American-born candidates for the Jewish Home party’s Knesset list Ari Abramowitz and Jeremy Gimpel say they would rather see a merger of the two National Religious parties even if it costs them their chance at the Knesset.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu marked the opening day of the school year telling students in Efrat that Efrat and Gush Etzion will always remain part of Israel.
Those who read my book, Where There Are No Men, already know that no real struggle can be conducted by the Yesha Council. We understood that the hard way when we established the Zo Artzeinu movement, and we have since explained how we reached this conclusion in detail.
I voted for Ariel Sharon, to my eternal shame, because I believed his promises, his calls for security and negotiating from a position of strength. I believed and I voted for him, as the leader of Menachem Begin’s party. And so, Gush Katif was evacuated with my vote. I protested. It was the Likud/Kadima hammer that rammed through those settlements - and it was my vote that helped give them that hammer. I will live with that...always.
By Yoel Meltzer
"We need to work on instilling a good strong Jewish-Zionist identity in all of the children in Israel and not only in the religious ones. In other words we need to stop looking inward and start focusing on all of Am Yisrael."
The general director of Peace Now, Yariv Oppenheier, has urged Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to open a criminal investigation into MKs Miri Regev (Likud), Danny Danon (Likud), and Michael Ben-Ari (National Union), for making speeches Wednesday in Tel Aviv he says incite racism and violence.
Is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s politically “brilliant move” just the opening shot? Will his next move be an attempt to inject the Kadima Knesset members into the Likud? Or is the prime minister planning another Sharon-style bombshell, such as enticing Likud MKs to join him, Kadima and Ehud Barak’s party in forming a new balloon party?
Ezra, who was serving as a Kadima MK at the time of his death, was born in Jerusalem in 1937. He served in the IDF's Nahal Paratrooper brigade, and joined the Shin Bet in 1962. Over a career that spanned 33 years, he rose to become the Deputy head of Israel's domestic intelligence organization. Throughout his political career he variously served as Minister without Portfolio, Minister of Internal Security, Minister of Tourism, and Minister of Environmental Protection.
The day after police arrested four Eritrean and Sudanese men for robbing and raping a 19 year-old woman in south Tel Aviv’s Neve Sha’anan neighborhood, Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai said most African illegal immigrants should be rounded up and either deported or arrested.
Israel Beytenu Chairman: "The residents who have lived in Givat Ulpana for years are law-abiding citizens. This is not an illegal outpost. It is the state's mistake, and it must take responsibility. There are ways to regulate the matter with legislation."
A unity government, which would give Netanyahu a massive 96 Knesset seats out of 120, would certainly clear the decks for military action against Iran. Early elections in September, on the other hand, carry a burden of uncertainty, even though Netanyahu’s Likud party is leading by a large amount in the polls. In any event, they would be disruptive.
By Tzvi Fishman
Now that everyone is talking about elections, I’m thinking of throwing my kippah into the ring. In all modesty, my novels have won me a pretty fair following in the religious community, so I could very well garner the necessary number of votes to get elected to the Knesset.
UPDATE: About 100 Likud Central Committee members have been refused entrance into the hall where the vote on the next President of the Likud convention is to be held. Police say the Exhibition Gardens hall in north Tel Aviv is too small for the number of committee members who are entitled to come in and vote.
By JTA
The Likud Party, which leads the ruling coalition, has submitted a bill to dissolve the current Knesset and is pushing for new elections on Sept. 4.
This is how it works: A minister or MK who steps out of line – opposing the destruction of the Ulpana neighborhood, for example – is immediately accused of “Feiglinism.” It makes no difference if the accuser is Tzipi Livni or Ehud Barak. “This is simply terrible,” Kadima MK Nachman Shai explained on the afternoon news. “Feiglin determines the fate of the Likud MKs.”
JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Netanyahu, faced with the unlikelihood of his coalition government passing a new law to end haredi military draft deferment or ratifying the 2013 state budget with its austerity measures that affect nearly every government ministry controlled by coalition partners, will call for new elections on his return to the Knesset next week after sitting shiva for his father.
By Barry Rubin
Israel is apparently going to have elections this autumn and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will almost certainly win by a big margin. Understanding why explains a lot about the country that people think they know the most about but in fact comprehend the least.
According to Ma'ariv's Mazal Mu'alem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose father passed away this morning, will nevertheless start talks this week with the leaders of his coalition partners to reach an agreement on a date for a "lightening speed" election. Netanyahu is interested in setting the earliest possible date, which would be August 14, or, […]
Following Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's announcement that he is prepared to go to an early election in October, "Israel Today" published a poll Sunday morning, conducted by the Gal Hadash service, on the prospects of the different potential factions. On the question of who is best fitting to be the next Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu […]
Many supporters of Israel are bedeviled by a glaring contradiction in Israeli political life. How can it be that, regardless of which party wins an election, leftist policies are invariably implemented?
By Yoel Meltzer
For anyone who is sick of the lies and hypocrisy - be it in Israel or the world - and really wants to work for change, it's not enough to simply stand on the street corner and shout the truth. How something is said or how someone looks while performing an act frequently has more impact than anything else in the eyes and ears of the viewer.
At the end of his column, “The Feiglin Bang” (published in Makor Rishon on March 23), editor Amnon Lord predicts one of two possibilities: Either I will lead the Likud with approximately 35 mandates or I will turn into the Uri Avnery (the radical leftist writer and media figure) of the Right.
Out of 95 thousand registered Kadima party members, only 40% voted by 10 p.m., when the polls closed. It was rumored that left-leaning Haim Ramon was planning to resign as Chair of the Kadima Council. Along with the Mofaz win, this may suggest that the party is moving to the right. It may also mean that Kadima could not be taken for granted as partnering with the left on issues such as religious vs. secular tensions.
By Jewish Press Staff Reporter
Some twenty influential, English speaking Likud central committee members met on Wednesday with a group of Likud representatives looking for central committee positions. Deputy Minister Ayoob Kara, Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee Chairman Danny Danon, Women's Right's Committee Chairwoman Tzipi Hotoveli, former Finance Committee Chairman Ofir Akunis and Minister Michael Eitan, all gave their […]
The Knesset's Jewish Home faction is in danger of splitting, following the internal political maneuvering that has taken place in the National Union.
Two polls - one commissioned by Maariv, the other by Haaretz - paint drastically different pictures of the current political frontrunners, leading to heated debate in the halls of the Knesset
To my fellow Israelis, I say this: The door is open. Just start marching toward leadership, toward liberty, toward destiny. It is not easy, but it is doable. That is what we proved in these elections. The nation is waiting. It is yearning for a life of national meaning and anticipates your leadership.
Dahaf conducted two telephone polls for newspaper Yediot Ahronot on 10 February 2012 with a sample of 500 respondents and a sampling error of 4.5%.
Temple Mount was closed to Jews and non-Muslims on Sunday, after posters attributed to activist Moshe Feiglin called for the destruction of the mosques on the site.
Before we wrap up the primary campaign, I wish to express a heartfelt thanks to all of my supporters. To push the faith-based alternative uphill, over long years and against all odds, is a task that I could never have done alone.
A few weeks ago I was asked by a friend in Likud to offer my services as a non-partisan ballot member for the upcoming Likud elections. I was a perfect fit since I have never been a Likud member and have never endorsed a candidate in any Likud primary election. So I stepped up and got the job.
PM Netanyahu's recent opposition to two Knesset bills underscores a worrying drift in Israeli political culture from the most basic democratic governing principles like separation of powers, and checks and balances.
An official ballot member and secretary for the Likud primary gives a first-hand account of the controversy surrounding the election.
By Rafi Harkham
High-ranking officials from the Jewish Leadership faction of the Likud cite numerous discrepancies in vote tallies around the country.
Director-general of Jewish Leadership faction claims that Likud purposely released inaccurate results.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu declared victory over Jewish Leadership faction head and long-time activist Moshe Feiglin Tuesday night, after winning 75% of votes for leader of the Likud party.
Netanyahu has been declared the winner of the Likud primaries after winning 75% of the vote, with Moshe Feiglin getting 25%.
Feiglin camp cites absence of voting materials at polling booths in Judea and Samaria.
While a contentious Likud primary is expected to result in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s landslide victory over Jewish Leadership faction head Moshe Feiglin, a strong showing by the underdog has already impacted Israel’s leading party.
125,000 Likud members are eligible to vote in polling stations across the country, which opened at 10 A.M. and will close at 10 P.M.
The battle lines in the Kadima primaries in March have been drawn: Livni-Mofaz, Round II
I do not like to give advice to people in times of distress. Every time a settlement facing destruction begins to debate whether to take the “offer” (in other words, the extortion) to leave or to cling to its principles and its place, I adopt our Sages’ advice to not judge others until I am in their place.
The Jewish Press' Knesset Insider discusses the potential for electoral reform in Israel.
"Strong and quick" pressure on Iran is still necessary, Israeli PM insists.
Netanyahu supports MK Benny Begin's proposal for evacuating Migron.
Arab MKs Hanin Zoabi, Ibrahim Sarsour, and Masud Ghnaim all photographed meeting with Dr. Aziz Dwaik.
Discussions follow recent legislation seeking to ban electronically-amplified muezzin calls entirely.
Israeli hackers take down Saudi, Abu Dhabi financial websites.
By Sam Ser
Tzipi Livni announces Kadima primaries; Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman faces indictment
According to the poll, Kadima would plummet 17 Knesset seats if elections were held today.
July 10, 2026 
