With less than two months to go before Israelis vote int he 22nd Knesset, allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday that all Likud candidates should sign a pledge to support him as the next prime minister.
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The initiative is meant to secure an advantage for Netanyahu after the Sept. 17 election, when President Reuven Rivlin has to decide who should get the first shot at forming a government. As of Sunday evening, many Likud candidates agreed to sign the pledge, prompting him to go on Twitter to thank them:
"I want to express my gratitude to all my friends in the Likud for this unequivocal support. The Likud is united as ever," he tweeted.
The text of pledge says: "We, the Likud candidates for the 22nd Knesset, will not accept any dictates from other parties, and regardless of the election outcome the only person from the Likud who will be nominated for prime minister is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."
Under the Israeli system, following a Knesset election, the president holds consultations with party leaders and chooses one of the newly-elected lawmakers and asks him or her to form a government. The candidate is usually the head of the party that wins the greatest number of seats, but in theory, the president can select any MK.
Likud's chief rivals, including the Blue and White alliance and the Yisrael Beytenu party, have said they would try to pressure Likud MKs to recommend someone who is not Netanyahu because he might be indicted for corruption in the coming months. They said they would not sit in a Likud-led coalition if Netanyahu stays on as prime minister.
Coalition Chairman David Bitan said that the pledge was not issued at the request of Netanyahu.
