103 ballot stations are opening today at 9am around Israel and will close at 11pm as 116,000 eligible Likud registered voters can choose between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the challenger MK Gideon Sa'ar to lead the party into the March 2 elections for the 23rd Knesset. The results will be announced tomorrow at Kfar Maccabiah. Both sides are concerned that the stormy weather will effect the turnout of their supporters.
The pundits forecast victory for Netanyahu and winning 35%-40% of the vote would be seen as an achievement for Sa'ar, who would be in pole position to take over as leader of the party if Netanyahu has to stand down, for legal or other reasons.
Netanyahu insists that he can win more seats for the Likud and indeed the polls do show that he is worth two or three more seats. Yesterday, he was campaigning, among othewr places, in Ashkelon where he was again ushered off the stage as the sirens wailed to warn of a rocket attack from Gaza. The rocket was intercepted by Iron Dome. "Hamas and Islamic Jihad don't want me to win," he said.
On the campaign trail yesterday, Sa'ar said, "Netnayahu is blocked from forming a government. His stories about winning more seats have no connection reality neither in the polls or what I hear in the street. In the past two elections he could not get to 61 seats. You have to distinguish between the support he has from the hard core and his ability to win more seats."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 26, 2019
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