BICOM

The three leading candidates to succeed President Shimon Peres in next week’s election have reportedly been canvassing for support in the probable event of a second round of voting.

In total, there are a record six candidates contesting next Tuesday’s secret ballot among the Knesset’s 120 members. Hatnuah’s former Finance Minister Meir Sheetrit, former Supreme Court Judge Dalia Dorner and Nobel Prize laureate Dan Shechtman are widely considered to have little chance of succeeding Peres.

The front-runner is former Knesset Speaker and Likud MK Reuven Rivlin, who is thought to have the support of the vast majority of both the Likud and Yisrael Beitenu factions, plus other assorted MKs. However, he will likely be well short of the 61 votes needed for an outright victory, meaning that a second round of voting between the top two candidates is likely. The two remaining candidates both consider themselves potential second round contestants – Labour MK and former Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer and former Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik, who is not a current MK but has broad appeal, are both reportedly canvassing support for such an eventuality. Itzik, Ben Eliezer and Rivlin are apparently in talks with MKs set to vote for Sheetrit, Shechtman and Dorner in the initial vote.

Meanwhile, questions remain over who will receive support from the ultra-Orthodox Knesset factions, renowned for their tight party discipline. However, reports suggest that splits within Shas mean that party leader Aryeh Deri may not be able to impose a definite party line. Although the Jerusalem Post says that much of the United Torah Judaism Party will vote for Rivlin, Yediot Ahronot suggests that some ultra-Orthodox MKs could back Ben Eliezer, in recognition of his not backing legislation to draft greater numbers of ultra-Orthodox students into the military. Among the Arab parties, Balad’s three MKs will reportedly back Ben Eliezer, while Hadash’s four MKs are thought to support Rivlin.