Netanyahu challenger Sa’ar formally requests snap vote for Likud leader
(Worthy News) – Likud MK Gideon Sa’ar on Sunday formally asked the party’s top decision-making body to schedule snap leadership primaries as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reportedly maneuvering to fend off the challenge to his longtime rule over the right-wing party.
Sa’ar publicly challenged Netanyahu after Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced Thursday he would charge the prime minister with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in a series of graft probes. The veteran Likud MK on Saturday criticized the premier for describing the indictment as an attempted coup and claimed he could “easily” put together a government following Netanyahu’s failure to do so after two consecutive elections. Blue and White leader Benny Gantz similarly failed to form a coalition after the September vote.
In his request to Likud Central Committee head Haim Katz, Sa’ar asked that the leadership race be held in the next two weeks. This would allow the new leader to try and form a government within the current 21-day period allotted for the Knesset to agree on a prime minister before Israel would be forced to go to new elections, the third in a year. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]