JERUSALEM: A string of high-profile Israelis who take a tough approach to the Arab world are streaming into Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, adding star power and an even more hawkish edge to a faction well placed to win February elections.
The additions to the Likud’s ranks include the squeaky clean son of former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, an outspoken former general and a onetime military spokeswoman, Israeli media reported yesterday.
They add heft to a party that ruled Israel for the better part of three decades but was stripped of most of its heavyweights after former Israeli leader Ariel Sharon bolted Likud in November 2005 to form the centrist Kadima, taking many of Likud’s top figures with him. The new faces also suggest the party might put a halt to peace talks that resumed nearly one year ago.
A spokeswoman for Netanyahu, who served as prime minister from 1996 to 1999, was not immediately available for comment on his recruitment strategy.
Today, polls show Likud and Kadima, headed by moderate Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, running neck and neck ahead of Feb. 10 parliamentary elections.
Likud, which won 38 of Parliament’s 120 seats in 2003, slumped to 12 in 2006 elections but has made a dramatic comeback. Tensions with Iran, Lebanon and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip have increased Israelis’ sense of vulnerability, and Likud’s call to stand fast has resonated among the electorate.
Kadima also has been hurt by corruption allegations against high-ranking members, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who is being forced from office.
“People are very disappointed in Kadima,” said political scientist Avraham Diskin. “When there is more danger individually to people and generally to the state of Israel, the immediate reaction is going to the right.”
Likud’s resurgence has made the party more attractive to former military and political officials looking for a home. Diskin added: “People want to join the winner.”
On Sunday, the media reported that Begin’s son Benny would rejoin Likud, despite a history of acrimonious relations with Netanyahu. The younger Begin quit Netanyahu’s Cabinet a decade ago and later left politics.
Likud has been tainted in the past by cronyism and campaign irregularities. Reabsorbing Begin would be Likud’s counterpoint to Livni, whose clean-hands image is a major electoral asset.
Netanyahu is also reportedly wooing former Cabinet minister Dan Meridor, a well-regarded and moderate politician and member of a pedigreed Likud family. Meridor stomped out of Netanyahu’s Cabinet after a much-publicized spat.
