More on Moshe Feiglin Pulling Out of Likud Knesset Campaign …

This Statement from Moshe Feiglin’s News Conference listed in Ynet Updates;

Feiglin: I Will Quit Likud Race After My Name is Cleared

“Moshe Feiglin announced at a press conference he will quit the Likud primaries to select the party’s Knesset list immediately after his name his cleared.”

“Feiglin noted his ‘Jewish Leadership’ faction would vote in favor of the proposed amendment to bar members convicted of disgraceful criminal offences from the Likud list. (Ilan Marciano)”

To track back to prior postings on this story, click here and here.

For IRIS commentary of Bibi’s counterproductive efforts against Moshe Feiglin, click here.

Feiglin Expected to Drop Uut of Race

Excerpts;

“Likud activist Moshe Feiglin is expected to drop his candidacy for the Knesset in a Tel Aviv press conference on Sunday after receiving assurances from Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu that he would end his campaign against him.”

“Netanyahu, who feared he could lose Sunday’s Likud central committee vote on banishing Feiglin, sent messengers over the weekend to Feiglin who convinced him to drop his candidacy willingly for the good of the party.”

“Shortly before the meeting opened, Likud activist Moshe Feiglin announced that he would drop his candidacy for the Knesset pending a ruling by the head of the Likud’s election committee, former Tel Aviv District Court judge Tzvi Cohen, declaring his candidacy legitimate.”

“At the Sunday morning press conference, Feiglin accused Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu of wasting two weeks since his election as party leader by conducting a witch-hunt against him instead of attacking Kadima.”

“At the press conference, a Feiglin associate also accused Education Minister Limor Livnat and other Likud leaders of anti-Semitism in their pursuit of Feiglin’s faction, Manhigut Yehudit.”

“Feiglin had not intended to run for Knesset, but Netanyahu’s campaign to prevent him from running ironically forced him to run and even strengthened his candidacy. Netanyahu, who feared he could lose Sunday’s Likud central committee vote on banishing Feiglin, sent messengers over the weekend to Feiglin who convinced him to drop his candidacy willingly for the good of the party. “

“‘We have an interest in the Likud succeeding so we had to give in,’ a Feiglin associate said.”

“A source close to Feiglin said the real reason he will drop his candidacy was that he was afraid that if he ran and lost, his power in the Likud would diminish. The source said another reason was that the slot on the Likud list reserved for a candidate from Judea or Samaria was unrealistic, and if he doesn’t run, he might succeed in getting an ally elected to a higher slot.”

“If Feiglin drops his candidacy, the only immediate effect of the proposal’s passage would be that former prisoners of Zion Natan Sharansky and Yuli Edelstein would need the approval of a judge to be able to run for Knesset with the Likud.”

“According to the proposal, the head of the Likud’s election committee, former Tel Aviv District Court judge Tzvi Cohen, will be in charge of deciding whether a crime involved ‘moral turpitude.’ Sharansky and Edelstein, who served jail time in the Soviet Union for their Zionism, are not expected to have a problem receiving Cohen’s permission to run, but their hearings with Cohen could embarrass Netanyahu.”

Feiglin Bowing Out of Likud Race

Excerpt:

“Feiglin indicated that once he receives a letter from Likud Election Committee officials that his civil rights offenses are not viewed as carrying moral turpitude implications, then he will remove his name from the list and vote in favor of party leader Binyamin Netanyahu’s bill to prohibit people sentenced to prison from the party lineup.”

Far-Right Likud Figure Feiglin Bows Out of Primaries

Excerpts;

“Sources close to Feiglin said that according to the agreement reached between the two, Netanyahu will not propose to amend the Likud’s constitution specifically to block Feiglin. Instead, Netanyahu will initiate a regulation in principle.”

“If the central committee adopts Netanyahu’s proposal, the resolution would apply to future cases. Sources close to Feiglin said, ‘Netanyahu went out on a limb in leading the move against Feiglin. He knew that if he harmed him within the party he would anger many and defeat his own purpose: unity in the Likud.'”

“‘Feiglin is an ideological asset to the Likud, the recent leadership elections have proved, not a burden,’ the source continued.”

“Netanyahu will propose that a convicted felon who was sentenced to three months in prison for an offense consisting of moral turpitude will be banned from contending for a slot on the Likud’s Knesset list and for positions in the party’s institutions.”

“Sources close to Netanyahu dismissed the claim that any agreement had been reached.”

“‘The proposal is to amend the constitution to prevent criminals from entering the party and there is nothing personal about it,’ an aide said.”