Some 86 percent of Likud voters prefer to see former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the party’s leader over former Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, who announced on Monday that he plans to challenge Netanyahu for the role, a Channel 12 news survey revealed on Tuesday.
Edelstein’s bid for the Likud chairmanship is theoretical at this point, however, as MK Haim Katz, who—as head of the Likud Central Committee—has the power to call for primaries, said that he has no intention of doing so in the foreseeable future.
He was referring to Netanyahu’s landslide victory over challenger Gidon Sa’ar in the Likud primaries that were held in Dec. 2019. Sa’ar eventually left to form his own party, New Hope, which is part of the current coalition. Sa’ar now serves as justice minister.
This report first appeared in Israel Hayom.