Turmoil in Likud Party Grows As Levy and ‘bibi’ Trade Charges

The Likud party has been thrown into new turmoil following more name-calling and accusations traded between the two top contenders in the primary race for party leader, David Levy and Benjamin Netanyahu.

Levy has demanded that Netanyahu, who was deputy foreign minister under Levy in the last Likud-led government, drop out of the primary if his accusations that Levy had tried to blackmail him are proven false.

In a series of weekend media appearances, Levy promised to quit the race and public life altogether if the accusations are shown to be true.

Likud insiders said Sunday the upshot of this new flare-up could be the postponement of the party primary, set for the end of March, especially if a police investigation into Netanyahu’s charges are not concluded until then.

The accusations stem from the political scandal known here as “Bibi-gate,” in which Netanyahu, who is known widely by the nickname Bibi, charged that “a certain Likud figure, surrounded by Mafia-type criminals” was responsible for blackmailing him and his wife.

Netanyahu took the unusual step of going on television to tell the story of how his wife, Sarah, received an anonymous phone call demanding that unless he quit the Likud leadership race, evidence of his having conducted an extramarital affair with another woman would be made public.

Although Netanyahu did not accuse Levy by name of being behind the scheme, Netanyahu’s aides confirmed he was referring to Levy.

Netanyahu said he had decided to confront the blackmail by admitting on television that he had indeed been conducting such an affair behind his wife’s back, but that it was now over.

LEVY LAGGING IN OPINION POLLS

Levy, who is lagging well behind Netanyahu in the race according to opinion polls, chose this weekend to speak out more forcefully on the political scandal than he has since it broke nearly two months ago.

“If I was indeed behind this crime then I have no place in public life nor in our movement, regardless of any ambition I might harbor,” he declared over the weekend in television and newspaper interviews.

But if, on the other hand, Netanyahu’s charges against him prove baseless, then Netanyahu would have shown himself to have acted recklessly and impetuously, Levy said.

In that case, Netanyahu should not be considered as a prime ministerial candidate, Levy insisted. In Israel, the person who leads a given party list becomes that party’s candidate for the prime minister’s post.

Netanyahu declined to comment on the substance of Levy’s attack but urged that the police be permitted to proceed with their inquiry without outside pressures being exerted.

Sources in the Netanyahu camp accused Levy of stepping up the tension surrounding the scandal because he feared the gap in the polls between himself and Netanyahu was unbridgeable.

According to one such poll, Netanyahu will take 50 percent of the Likud vote and Levy only 16. Also running are Knesset members Ze’ev “Benny” Begin and Moshe Katsav.