News
Delayed Presidential vote mooted as race to succeed Peres gathers pace
With President Shimon Peres’ term in office coming to an end this summer, the race to succeed him has taken a new twist with suggestions that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to postpone the vote and investigate eventually disbanding the Presidency altogether.
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein will meet the various candidates to succeed Peres this week and is expected to announce a date for the vote next week. The President is elected by the Knesset’s 120 members and each candidate must receive the endorsement of 10 MKs.
However, it is thought that Netanyahu does not support any of the candidates who have already thrown their hat in the ring. In particular, relations with fellow Likud MK and former Knesset-speaker Reuven Rivlin are strained, although Rivlin enjoys popular support within the Likud’s Knesset faction. Israeli media reports suggest that Netanyahu’s antipathy towards Rivlin, which Yediot Ahronot’s Nahum Barnea describes as an “obsession,” has prompted him to push for a six-month delay on the presidential election during which time a committee would be appointed to examine alternatives to the presidency, a largely ceremonial office.
Likud’s Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar yesterday said that he would “oppose any attempt … to push off the presidential election or eliminate the presidency.” Likud MK Haim Katz expressed similar views and urged Netanyahu to back Rivlin. It is also thought that other coalition factions, including Yesh Atid and Jewish Home are opposed to changing the rules of the presidential vote.
In addition to Rivlin, senior Labour MK and former-minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer has also declared his candidacy to succeed Peres. He has denied recent damaging media reports of gambling in London casinos. Meanwhile, Likud Minister Silvan Shalom is expected to decide imminently on his potential candidacy, after allegations of sexual misconduct against him were dropped by the state prosecutor. Former-Knesset Speaker and Labour and Kadima MK Dalia Itzik is also said to be mulling a presidential run, thought to be largely dependent on Shalom’s decision.