Now that the Likud primaries are over and the party has determined its list of candidates for the April 9 Knesset election, party leader and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is running a tight ship, warning them that "anyone who doesn't cooperate shouldn't expect a job" in the next government.
Israel Hayom has learned that Netanyahu also said in closed talks that "the primaries are over and now we need to win the election. I expect campaign discipline and cooperation from everyone."
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, who won the No. 1 slot on the Likud list, also urged Likud legislators not to rest on their laurels.
"Now that our personal issues in the primaries are over, our only goal is for the Likud to win the general election, and it won't be simple. The small parties in the national camp that art refusing to unite are putting all the camp in danger, while there is also no traditional opponent on the other side … We'll need to work very hard to pull in voters. The attractive list we assemble will help," Edelstein said.
Likud MK Oren Hazan, who placed too low on the list to serve in the next government, gave an interview to Hadashot 12 News on Saturday in which he attacked Netanyahu and the Likud.
"Netanyahu did everything to keep me off the list. The entire system, the entire [party] mechanism, was against me," Hazan complained.
Each party running for the Knesset compiles a list of 120 potential Knesset members. The number of representatives of each party who actually wind up serving in the Knesset is based on the percentage of the vote the party gets in a Knesset election.
According to Hazan, the "New Likudniks" group had brought in 9,000 votes which promoted certain people on the Likud list.
"If it hadn't been for them, [Public Security Minister] Gilad Erdan and [Culture and Sport Minister] Miri Regev would have been in the first and second spots and Yuli Edelstein would have rounded out to top 10.
"I chose not to work with the string-pullers. Committees left me out, and the New Likudniks promoted people over me," Hazan said.
The Likud called Hazan's comments baseless.
"The Likud voters made themselves heard," the party said.
Also Saturday evening, the results of a new poll were announced. The Likud was projected to win 32 seats, Benny Gantz's Israel Resilience Party was projected to win 22, and 11 seats were predicted for Yesh Atid under Yair Lapid.
The poll projected eight seats for the New Right, seven each for Labor and United Torah Judaism, six seats for Shas, and five seats apiece for Meretz, Kulanu, and Yisrael Beytenu.
According to the poll, Habayit Hayehudi would not pass the minimum electoral threshold of 3.25%, or four seats.
