1993 Likud leadership election

Last updated

1993 Likud leadership election
Likud Logo.svg
←  1992 March 24, 1993 1999 (Jan)  →
Turnout67.1%
  PikiWiki Israel 33443 People of Israel (1).jpg David Levy in 1989 (1).jpg
Candidate Benjamin Netanyahu David Levy
Party Likud Likud
Popular vote72,70536,654
Percentage52.1%26.3%
  Ze'ev Benyamin Begin (1).jpg Moshe Katsav 2, by Amir Gilad (1).JPG
Candidate Benny Begin Moshe Katsav
Party Likud Likud
Popular vote21,0529,111
Percentage15.1%6.5%
Leader before election

Yitzhak Shamir

Elected Leader

Benjamin Netanyahu

The 1993 Likud leadership election was held on March 24, 1993 [1] [2] to elect the leader of the Likud party. Benjamin Netanyahu defeated three other candidates in the race to succeed outgoing party leader Yitzhak Shamir. This was the first time in the history of the Likud party (or its predecessor Herut) that a party leadership election was open to the party's general membership. Since Netanyahu received more than the 40% threshold required to win in the first round of voting, no runoff election was held.

Contents

Background

After Likud was defeated in the 1992 Israeli legislative election, incumbent party leader Yitzhak Shamir announced that he would resign as party leader. [2]

In the period since its defeat in the 1992 Israeli legislative election, Likud's party organization had face tumult. The party had incurred sizeable debt. It also had seen the Supreme Court of Israel rule the party's constitution invalid. [3]

Candidates

Ran
Declined to run

Overview of candidates

The election was seen as being part of a generational change in both the party's leadership and in Israeli politics. [6] [4] In terms of age, Netanyahu was 44, Begin was 50, Katsav was 48, and Levy was 56. [4]

The candidates came from different backgrounds. Netanyahu's career had been as a diplomat and politician. He was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, but had spent a portion of his youth in the United States, where he was also raised for part of his youth, and had overall lived for fifteen years of his life in the United States. [4] Netanyahu was seen as both having a knack for promoting himself through publicity, and was regarded to practice "American-style politics". His public stature had been previously elevated during the Gulf War, during which he served as a spokesman on behalf of the Israeli government. He had received a master's degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States. [6]

Begin was born in Jerusalem, Israel. He was the son of the late former Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin. Outside of his political career, he had been a geologist by profession. He had received a PhD from Colorado State University in the United States. [4]

Katsav was born in Iran, but immigrated to Israel with his parents at only the age of 5. He had received a bachelor of arts from Hebrew University. Outside of politics, he had been a businessman. [4]

Levy had been born in Morocco, and had immigrated to Israel at the age of 20. He had the longest Knesset tenure of any of the candidates running. Levy's career had seen him work as both a politician and a trade union leader. [4] Levy had a "rags to riches" personal backstory, rising form poverty to a position of great political influence. [3]

Election procedure

This was the first time in the history of the Likud party (or its predecessor Herut) that a party leadership election was open to the party's general membership. At the time, the general membership numbered around 216,000. [1] [2] For a candidate to win outright in the first round, they needed to receive more than 40% of the vote, otherwise a runoff election would have been held. [6]

Campaigning

The campaign went very negative, particularly between Netanyahu and Levy. Levy and Netanyahu were longtime political rivals with a bitter political feud. During the campaign, Levy referred to Netanyahu in such terms as "liar" and "eel", and pejoratively compared Netanyahu to Napoleon Boneparte. [4]

Bibigate controversy

Netanyahu faced allegations of adultery, revelations which Netanyahu ultimately admitted in a mid-January national television appearance during the campaign were true, and that his affair had only ended months prior, but did not specify with whom he had had an affair. [4] Many in the media likened the scandal to United States President Bill Clinton's scandal related to allegations amid his 1992 United States presidential election campaign of a past extramarital affair with Gennifer Flowers. [3] The scandal around Netanyahu's extramarital affair was dubbed "Bibigate", [4] [3] a portmanteau of Netanyahu's nickname "Bibi" and the suffix "gate" often used for scandals and controversies that have occurred in the years since the Watergate scandal.

After admitting his affair, Netanyahu alleged that "someone very high up" in Likud that "surrounds himself with criminals" attempted to blackmail Netanyahu into withdrawing from the race by threatening to release videotape of Netanyahu in compromising extramarital romantic situations. The news media largely inferred that Netanyahu was likely implying that Levy had been the one who attempted to blackmail him. [6] [4] [3] Levy strongly denied having done this. [5] The greatest surprise among the public was not that Netanyahu had had an affair, but rather that Netanyahu had chosen to admit to the affair, and that he had made a serious claim that (presumably Levy) had allegedly attempted to blackmail him about it. [3]

Polls suggested that Netanyahu likely lost a portion of his support among women and devoutly religious Israelis by admitting to his affair, but that his confession may have actually boosted his reputation with the overall public. [3]

While police launched an investigation into Netanyahu's allegations that he had been subjected to a blackmail attempt, the results of this investigation were not yet announced at the time of the leadership election. It was reported on Israel Radio that unnamed political sources had alleged that the outgoing national police chief, Yaacov Temer, had ordered a deliberate delay of any results being announced until after the leadership election. Levy would also allege that this was the case. [5]

Benjamin Netanyahu's campaign

During the campaign, Netanyahu was regarded as the overwhelming front-runner. Opinion polls predicted Netanyahu would receive enough support to forgo a runoff election, with some polls even showing him as garnering as much as 60% of the likely vote. [6] [4]

Netanyahu's campaign style was often described as "American-style". [4] [6] [3] Many critical of Netanyahu derided this "American-style" approach to politics, loathing the "Americanization" of Israeli politics. They belittled the manner in which Netanyahu often provided quick summaries of his positions, characterizing his comments as aimed at serving as "sound bites" for television as opposed to more serious explanations of policy stances. [4]

Netanyahu benefited from a sizable amount of campaign contributions from right-wing American Jews and evangelical Christians. [3] Critics of Netanyahu attacked the fact that he fundraised for his campaign in the United States, accusing him of being beholden to those contributors. [4]

In terms of his public image and appeal, Netanyahu benefited from his claim to being a sabra. (native-born Israeli), and his distinguished military background. [3]

Netanyahu confidently touted as the sole individual capable of returning Likud to leading the government, and painted the incumbent Israeli Labor Party-led government as disastrous for the country. He argued that leadership was the central issue of the race, particularly pointing to the change to Israeli elections that meant that the next prime minister would be selected by a direct popular vote. Netyahu pledged to lead a two to three-year effort to rebuild the organization of the Likud party ahead of the next Knesset election. [4] He also floated the potential of persuading a junior party in the incumbent government coalition to break from the government to force an early election. [4] He noted that the coalition had a potential weekness in the fact that it relied on support of both the religious Shas party and the secular left-wing Meretz party. [3] Comfortably leading in the polls, and centering his campaign on characterizing the strength of his own leadership, Netanyahu largely focused his criticisms on incumbent Labor Party prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, as opposed to spending time criticizing his election opponents. While his campaign was focused on his leadership, Netanyahu did not provide many details of specifics political actions or policies he would pursue. Netanyahu's lack of policy specifics attracted criticism from opponents. Opponent Benny Begin remarked, "a leadership devoid of content will not succeed." [4] Netanyahu particularly avoided discussing domestic issues, [3] and was even quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald as declaring at a rally,

"I won't talk about social issues, that's not what I'm here for. I'm not interested in talking about the country we are going to have. I'm not talking about the economy, unemployment, or redundancies. There's no time. I'm talking about whether we'll have a country." [3]

In a Los Angeles Times report on the election, Michael Parks described Netanyahu as "almost distainful of domestic social and economic policy issues. Parks further observed,

What has left many Likud supporters uneasy is that Netanyahu's political philosophy appears focused simply on power, getting it and keeping it, and that his strategy for the party's comeback is summed up as "my leadership". For a party that grew out of the ideologically driven Zionist nationalism espoused for decades by Menachem Begin, this seems a virtual abandonment of principle in favor of the rankest form of politics. [4]

While Netanyahu generally avoided providing specific policies on most issues, [4] he still staked out general positions on a few matters. Netanyahu deliberately made an effort to project a tough-guy image, which was reflected in the positions chose to highlight, emphasizing "tough" potions on national security concerns, and positioning himself as a hawk. [3] A key political issue that Netanyahu made central to his campaign was the Golan Heights. Netanyahu accused Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of planning a secret plan to retreat from this territory (which Israel had captured from Syria during the Six Day War in 1967) as part of an Israeli-Syrian peace agreement. Netanyahu promised that, if he became prime minister, he would stake out a more hardline position than Rabin in any prospective peace talks. [4] The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Netanyahu as having, on the campaign trail, provided a personal analysis of the Zionist movement that split it into two camps. The first camp, he claimed, were those that he said included Likud, who "fought Arab terror". The second, he said, were those that included the left-wing Meretz party (a partner in the current Israeli government coalition), who he calaimed "appeased" such terror. [3]

David Levy's campaign

This was not Levy's first time running for leadership of Likud or its predecessor party Herut. Levy had run for Herut leadership in 1983 and leadership of Likud in 1992. [2]

Levy benefited from a strong base among the Likud party's rank and file. [3]

Levy floated the possibility that he might either break away from the party or petition the party's internal court to expel Netanyahu from the party. The heated division between Netanyahu and David was seen as threatening a fracture in the party, raising concerns for many that it could lead to disunity that would impair the party in the next elections, and that Netanyahu might not be capable of repairing such a divide. [3]

Benny Begin's campaign

Due to the celebrated legacy of his father, as well as indications that Yithak Shamir might have supported his candidacy, Begin was at one time seen as a likely contender to succeed Shamir. However, Carol Rosenberg of the Miami Herald wrote that his "awkward" performance during the 1992 legislative elections had hurt his chances, with Rosenberg writing that in 1992, Begin had, "appeared uncomfortable with the mudslinging personality-oriented tone of the campaign, a departure in Israel's party-oriented politics." [7]

Moshe Katsav's campaign

Result

1993 Likud leadership election [2] [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Likud Benjamin Netanyahu 72,705 52.1
Likud David Levy 36,65426.3
Likud Benny Begin 21,05215.1
Likud Moshe Katsav 9,1116.5
Turnout 67.1

Aftermath

The election, incidentally, coincided with the Knesset (Israel's parliament) voting on the country's new president the same day. [1] Netanyahu's election as leader of the nation's main opposition party and Ezer Weizman election as president meant that, for the first time in its history, the nation's (de facto) leader of the opposition, prime minister (Rabin), and president were all sabra. [9]

Netanyahu would go on to narrowly win the direct election for prime minister 1996 Israeli general election. While he would lose the premiership in the 1999 Israeli general election, and would resign as Likud leader shortly thereafter, he would become party leader once again in the 2005 Likud leadership election, and would become prime minister again after the 2009 Israeli legislative election serving until 2021.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prime Minister of Israel</span> Head of government of Israel

The prime minister of Israel is the head of government and chief executive of the State of Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yitzhak Shamir</span> Prime Minister of Israel, 1983–1984 and 1986–1992

Yitzhak Shamir was an Israeli politician and the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms, 1983–1984 and 1986–1992. Before the establishment of the State of Israel, Shamir was a leader of the Zionist paramilitary and terrorist organization Lehi. After the establishment of the Israeli state he served in the Mossad between 1955 and 1965 and as a Knesset member. He served as the sixth Speaker of the Knesset, and as foreign affairs minister. Shamir was the country's third-longest-serving prime minister, after Benjamin Netanyahu and David Ben-Gurion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Likud</span> Israeli centre-right to right-wing political party

Likud, officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing parties. Likud's landslide victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had lost power. In addition, it was the first time in Israel that a right-wing party won the plurality of the votes. After ruling the country for most of the 1980s, the party lost the Knesset election in 1992. Likud's candidate Benjamin Netanyahu won the vote for Prime Minister in 1996 and was given the task of forming a government after the 1996 elections. Netanyahu's government fell apart after a vote of no confidence, which led to elections being called in 1999 and Likud losing power to the One Israel coalition led by Ehud Barak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herut</span> Political party in Israel

Herut was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism.

Herut – The National Movement, commonly known as just Herut, was a minor right-wing political party in Israel. Though it saw itself as the ideological successor to the historical Herut party it was a new and separate party. It participated in the 1999, 2003 and 2006 elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Levy (Israeli politician)</span> Israeli politician

David Levy is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1969 and 2006, as well as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Immigrant Absorption, Minister of Housing and Construction and as a Minister without Portfolio. Although most of his time as a Knesset member was spent with Likud, he also led the breakaway Gesher faction, which formed part of Ehud Barak's Labor-led government between 1999 and 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deputy of the Prime Minister of Israel</span>

The deputy prime minister of Israel falls into four categories; Designated Acting Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Vice Prime Minister and Alternate Prime Minister. Vice Prime Minister is honorary and extra-constitutional position, but entitle the office-holder to a place in the cabinet. Deputy Prime Minister, Designated Acting Prime Minister, and Alternate Prime Minister are constitutional positions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Kleiner</span> Israeli politician

Michael Kleiner is an Israeli politician and was the leader of Herut – The National Movement He is currently the President of the Supreme Court of the Israeli Likud party.

Elections for the 17th Knesset were held in Israel on 28 March 2006. The voting resulted in a plurality of seats for the then-new Kadima party, followed by the Labor Party, and a major loss for the Likud party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1999 Israeli general election</span> Elections for the 15th Knesset

Early general elections for both the Prime Minister and the Knesset were held in Israel on 17 May 1999 following a vote of no confidence in the government; the incumbent Likud Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ran for re-election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gesher (1996 political party)</span> Former political party in Israel

Gesher, officially the Gesher National Social Movement, was a political party in Israel between 1996 and 2003. It formed when David Levy led a split from the Israeli center-right party Likud. Gesher helped to form coalition governments led by both Likud and the left-wing Labor Party, but never gained significant power. The party was eventually disbanded as Levy returned to Likud. In 2019, David Levy's daughter, Orly Levy set up a similar party named Gesher, which advocates for many of the same policies supported by her father.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benny Begin</span> Israeli politician

Ze'ev Binyamin "Benny" Begin, is an Israeli geologist and politician. He was a member of the Knesset for New Hope, having previously served as a member for Likud and Herut – The National Movement. He is the son of former Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin.

Elections for the 13th Knesset were held in Israel on 23 June 1992. The election resulted in the formation of a Labor government, led by Yitzhak Rabin, helped by the failure of several small right wing parties to pass the electoral threshold. Voter turnout was 77.4%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Meridor</span> Israeli politician

Dan Meridor is an Israeli politician and minister. A longtime member of the Likud party, in the late 1990s he became one of the founders of the Centre Party. He rejoined Likud a decade later, and returned to the Knesset following the 2009 elections. Meridor served at various times as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, Minister of Justice and Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy in the Israeli Cabinet. In 2014, Meridor succeeded Avi Primor as president of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations, an institute of international affairs which operates under the auspices of the World Jewish Congress.

Politics in Israel are dominated by Zionist parties. They traditionally fall into three camps, the first two being the largest: Labor Zionism, Revisionist Zionism and Religious Zionism. There are also several non-Zionist Orthodox religious parties and non-Zionist secular left-wing groups, as well as non-Zionist and anti-Zionist Israeli Arab parties.

The 1992 Likud leadership election was held on 20 February 1992 to elect the leader of the Likud party. It saw the reelection of Yitzhak Shamir, who defeated challenges from David Levy and Ariel Sharon

The 1984 Herut leadership election was held on 12 April 1984 to elect the leader of the Herut party. It saw the reelection of Yitzhak Shamir, who defeated a challenge from former defense minister Ariel Sharon, as well as lawyer Aryeh Chertok.

The 1983 Herut leadership election was held on 2 September 1983 to elect the leader of the Herut party. It saw the election of Yitzhak Shamir to succeed Menachem Begin.

A leadership election was held by the Likud party on 19 December 2005. former Prime Minister and Party Leader Benjamin Netanyahu defeated Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom, as well as candidates Moshe Feiglin and Israel Katz.

The January 1999 Likud leadership election was held on 25 January 1999 to elect the leader of the Likud party. Incumbent party leader and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu handily defended a challenge by former minister of defense Moshe Arens.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Israeli parliament chooses president" . Newspapers.com. Rockland Journal-News. March 15, 1993. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Kenig, Ofer (2009). "Democratizing Party Leadership Selection in Israel: A Balance Sheet". Israel Studies Forum. 24 (1): 62–81. ISSN   1557-2455. JSTOR   41805011 . Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Osmond, Warren (March 23, 1993). "Israel's rising star displays a flash of over-flamboyance" . Newspapers.com. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Parks, Michael (March 23, 1993). "4 Israelis Jostle to Lead Likud Out of Wilderness" . Newspapers.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 Landau, David (April 2, 1993). "Netanyahu says he'll unify Likud, rip Labor" . Newspapers.com. Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 LaBelle, G.G. (March 25, 1993). "Israel's Likud set to pick new leader" . Newspapers.com. The News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware). The Associated Press. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  7. ↑ Rosenberg, Carol (March 24, 1993). "Younger politicians vie for Likud's Leadership" . The Miami Herald. Retrieved November 5, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Sa'ar, Gideon (March 26, 1993). "נתניהו: צריך להפיל את הממשלה בהקדם האפשרי". Hadashot (in Hebrew). National Library of Israel. p. 3. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  9. ↑ LaBelle, G.G. (March 25, 1993). "Netanyahu expected to win party leadership easily" . Newspapers.com. The News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware). The Associated Press. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.