Benjamin Netanyahu, a former deputy foreign minister and ex-ambassador to the United Nations, appeared poised to beat out his rivals in voting Wednesday for the chairmanship of the Likud party.
Turnout was described as heavy as members of the right-of-center party went to polls all over the country in the first nationwide primary Likud has ever held to select a party leader.
The voting proceeded smoothly except in two instances in Tel Aviv, where supporters of Netanyahu clashed with those of his archrival, former Foreign Minister David Levy.
More than 215,000 party members were eligible to vote in the election for a leader to replace former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, who is retiring from politics. Final results were not expected until late Thursday.
In addition to Netanyahu and Levy, Knesset member Ze’ev “Benny” Begin and former Cabinet minister Moshe Katsav were competing in the race.
Polls taken shortly before the voting showed Netanyahu with between 45 and 60 percent of the vote. At least 40 percent is needed to secure a decisive victory and avoid a runoff next week.
The campaign had been marked by acrimony and personal attacks between Netanyahu and Levy.
Levy has said he would refuse to serve in the party’s leadership if Netanyahu won the race. Netanyahu, for his part, said he would not tolerate divisive factions in the party if he won.
Despite their promise, police failed to publi- cize before the primaries the results of their investigation into the so-called “Bibi-gate” scandal, much to the chagrin of Levy.
The scandal centers on claims by Netanyahu, popularly known as “Bibi,” that he was blackmailed by a “Likud higher-up” over an extramarital affair he admits having had. While Netanyahu never explicitly pointed the finger, it was clear that he blamed the blackmail incident on the Levy camp.
But the police investigation apparently has turned up nothing conclusive linking any such attempt to a Likud party member.
Levy charged the delay in releasing the findings was deliberate and motivated by the desire to protect Netanyahu.
He said the results of the investigation would show the story was full of “libel” and “lies” and would have dealt Netanyahu a fatal blow to his credibility.
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