Ambika Bhardwaj
Published On: December 27, 2021 at 19:22 IST
leader of the opposition Benjamin Netanyahu personally did attend a hearing at his Likud party’s internal Court, making the argument that the New Likudniks group inside this party should be evicted in its entirety because it is a “Trojan horse” that poses a “danger” to the whole State of Israel.
Representatives of the faction claim they want to return the Likud to its original liberal values, but opposers claim they are leftist infiltrators attempting to bring the group down from within.
In the midst of a growing political battle within the party, the Likud court decided last week to expel 1,000 members affiliated with the New Likudniks and investigate the status of 7,000 other members. The Court stated that there was significant evidence to eliminate those 1,000 members, but it denied a requirement to expel the entire New Likudniks group, instead stating that members would be reviewed individually.
Netanyahu reiterated his frequent criticism of the new government led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, claiming that it includes right-wing parties that received votes “and fraudulently transferred them to the left in order to instigate a coup.”
The saga unfolded as longtime party leader and former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu faces rising criticism over the manner in which he lost power in March, as well as a looming leadership challenge.
A few of the parties that entered the coalition that eventually ousted Netanyahu are politically affiliated with Likud, but they rejected to form a government with the group if it was still led by Netanyahu, who is on Trial in three corruption cases and has for years shunned Likud lawmakers seen as a danger to his party leadership.