Sep. 27, 2005
Sharon: I will guide Likud
By GIL HOFFMAN

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon intends to continue guiding the Likud ideologically in a different direction from the party’s traditional ideals of maintaining as much as possible of the land of Israel, Sharon said on Tuesday in meetings with Likud ministers.

Sharon said he saw his victory in Monday’s Likud central committee vote as an endorsement for the Gaza Strip withdrawal plan and his policies on diplomatic issues. He added that he did not intend to fire Likud ministers who opposed him in the vote, but that he will no longer tolerate the insubordination of rebellious Likud MKs.

"The vote was about my path, which I will keep on directing as I see fit,‘ Sharon said. ’I will no longer accept the behavior of some MKs in the faction. Because my path was victorious, from now on, when I present my path, they will have to agree. I will unite the party in a statesmanlike way to lead the party forward."

A poll published on Channel One’s Politika late Tuesday revealed that Sharon was far more popular than his main Likud rival, MK Binyamin Netanyahu.

According to the poll conducted among a sample of the adult population in Israel, 60 percent believe Netanyahu is unfit to be prime minister. On the other hand, 32% thought Sharon was unfit to lead the nation while 41% said he was.

Eyal Arad, Sharon’s strategic adviser said in a Herzliya speech on Tuesday night that Sharon had successfully completed a struggle in the party over his policies. He said that Sharon defied expectations by not shifting rightward ahead of the vote, and that the rightist segments of the party were defeated.

Sharon hinted that he intends to remain in the Likud for the primary race that is expected in the spring against Netanyahu and MK Uzi Landau and activist Moshe Feiglin.

But Sharon’s advisers said that his decision about whether to form a new party would ultimately be based on how the rebel MKs acted in November Knesset votes on no-confidence motions, ministerial appointments, and the 2006 state budget.

The first test will likely come when acting finance minister Ehud Olmert’s permanent appointment comes to a vote. A stiffer challenge is expected when Sharon will try to appoint to the cabinet his allies Ze’ev Boim and Roni Bar-On, who he tried unsuccessfully to appoint three months ago.

Landau and the Likud rebel MKs he heads said they would not accept dictates from Sharon, despite the vote. They said they would support him only if he follows the traditional Likud path and continue opposing him if he violates their ideology.

Sharon’s opponents disagreed about whom to blame for their loss in the vote. Some pointed accusing fingers at Netanyahu and said that they would have won the vote had he stayed on the sidelines instead of leading the effort and inspiring antagonism. Others said that Netanyahu lost the vote by a small margin and would win by a greater margin in the primary.

Netanyahu’s bureau chief Yechiel Leiter said that his campaign’s polls indicated that it was better for Netanyahu not to lead the struggle to move up the primary and that the former prime minister took a risk in accepting the leadership. He said that Netanyahu’s decision to lead proved that he was not an opportunist.

"We pitted ideology against Sharon’s threats and we did a masterful job of presenting the case,‘ Netanyahu’s bureau chief Yechiel Leiter said. ’Sharon’s dirty tricks of Sunday night had a significant effect with the undecided voters. We put up a good fight and we almost won it, and in the process, Netanyahu positioned himself well for the fight that counts."

Leiter said that his campaign would demand a revote if police find that MK Omri Sharon or anyone else in the Sharon camp was involved in Sunday’s microphone sabotage. He said he was not concerned that without a cabinet seat, Netanyahu would have the same difficulties that former prime minister Ehud Barak had in attracting attention.

"Netanyahu’s won’t need to call press conferences to call attention to himself like Barak,‘ Leiter said. ’He’s going to work on rebuilding his political machine that he neglected as finance minister and reinvigorate a solid team of political activists."

A Sharon associate said that one way that the prime minister will use to remain in power is that he will try to get permission to open the Likud’s membership rolls, which have fallen from 300,000 at the time of the last Likud leadership race to only some 132,000.

The question of whether the rolls can be opened will be decided soon by the head of the Likud’s election committee, retired judge Zvi Cohen.

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