FEIGLIN REJECTS NETANYAHU’S OFFER TO QUIT RACE

He added that if he received an offer that was worthy, he would bring it to all the members of Zehut for a vote.

By Gil Hoffman, JPOST

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Zehut leader Moshe Feiglin in recent days and offered him an economic portfolio in the next government if his party were to drop out of the September 17 race.

Netanyahu reportedly also offered to take steps to legalize medical cannabis, a key issue in the Zehut platform, and to help pay the party’s debts. The offer to Feiglin consisted of one package if he would drop out and another if he would also endorse Likud.

But Feiglin rejected the offers and vowed to continue to lead Zehut until it enters the Knesset. On Tuesday, Zehut will hold a mass campaign rally at Expo Tel Aviv, with 700 participants already signed up to attend.

“It is no secret that we are under heavy pressure to leave the race, and we are receiving a variety of offers but I will not break my promise to my voters,” Feiglin wrote on Facebook.

He added that if he received an offer that was worthy, he would bring it to all the members of Zehut for a vote.

The Otzma Yehudit party has also rejected offers to withdraw from the election. Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben-Gvir met Monday with Netanyahu’s confidant and former bureau chief, Natan Eshel. Ben-Gvir said after the meeting that he would not reveal its contents but that Netanyahu needs Otzma to cross the 3.25% electoral threshold to help him achieve a coalition of 61 MKs.

While no polls have shown either Zehut or Otzma crossing the threshold, both parties are close. Noam, another far-Right party, is expected to quit the race if it does not sign up 100,000 potential voters before the election.

Netanyahu is interested in preventing right-wing votes from going to waste after both Zehut and the New Right party failed to cross the threshold in the April 9 election.

August 28, 2019 | 2 Comments »
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  1. Bibi sweeten the pot now and Feiglin may likely drop out.

    Feiglin and Netanyahu meet, close in on deal that would see Zehut drop out
    Right-wing party that is predicted to come up short in September elections may drop out of the race in exchange for cannabis legislation and a cabinet post.

    Both the ruling Likud and Zehut parties confirmed on Wednesday that they are close to a deal that would see Zehut drop out of September’s Knesset race in exchange for a ministerial position following the elections.

    Zehut chairman Moshe Feiglin, who met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, told Army Radio that the two had discussed the “cancellation of cannabis reform” and that “if we reach agreements, I will withdraw my candidacy and receive a position in the cabinet.”

    In trying to convince Feiglin to end his run, Netanyahu reportedly offered to cover all of Zehut’s campaign costs so far, give Feiglin an economics-related ministry in a future government, and legalize personal use of cannabis, a plank of Zehut’s platform.

    In a statement Wednesday, Likud said that Netanyahu was “making great efforts to prevent wasted votes on the right. There is significant progress between Likud and Feiglin and Zehut. An agreement has not yet been reached and when it is reached, we will publish it.”

    Likud added that the “essence of the agreement” related to free-market policies, which Zehut, as a quasi-libertarian party, has espoused.

    Eitan Haberman, once the long-term chief legal adviser of the Likud party and currently serving in that role for its rival Yisrael Beytenu, told The Times of Israel on Tuesday that a deal that would see Feiglin drop out of the race in exchange for a ministerial post could be considered election fraud and bribery, and, if implemented, could force a nationwide revote.

    https://www.timesofisrael.com/feiglin-and-netanyahu-meet-close-in-on-deal-that-would-see-zehut-drop-out/

  2. Is this really an erection or nothing more than a confirmation of nutunyahoo continuing dictatorship? Only in Israel individuals and or parties can be ruled out of the race by the committee. Generally as long as the party or the individual pays the deposit they run. Don’t get enough votes they loose their deposit. No doubt Feiglin knows how good nutunyahoo offers promises are.