Netanyahu Confident After Contender Bows Out of Race
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got a boost Sunday in his bid for reelection after a top contender within his Likud Party dropped out of the race.
Ehud Olmert, the mayor of Jerusalem and Netanyahu’s only serious threat within his party decided Sunday to bow out after failing to get the support of Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai.
At a meeting of the Likud central committee, Netanyahu appeared confident and cheerful--a contrast to last week when support for his security policies collapsed, precipitating elections likely to take place by June.
The party meeting was called Sunday to determine when internal elections for the party’s leadership and for its list of parliamentary candidates should take place.
The meeting was a useful vehicle for Netanyahu to demonstrate that he still had a firm grip on the party machine. He accused the opposition Labor Party of working with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to ensure his defeat.
“We’re working for a secure peace, but they say no,” he said of the Labor Party.
Labor leader Ehud Barak responded that such comments were dirty politics.
The only remaining challenger from the Likud Party is Uzi Landau, 55, chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
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