Quite a few senior Likud members were very surprised this week when they saw the video released by Netanyahu in which he called on the masses to join the Likud.
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From the perspective of the former prime minister, this is a necessary move. In light of the numerous cases in which senior Likud officials have tried to challenge his leadership, organize conferences to showcase their power, and even give interviews against him in the media, the mass census move he announced should bring everyone into proportion.
If he brings in several tens of thousands of new functionaries by the end of August, as he plans, it will send a clear message to Nir Barkat, Israel Katz, and others, to shrink back to their natural size.
The new commander is a commander of Bibiists. Not just a homecoming operation for those who abandoned for a new hope and to the right, but also a commander of a new audience that was never a member of Likud. Those who learned to appreciate Netanyahu, not to say admire him. Those who come to his defense in every forum - whether in the media or in private conversations - those for whom Netanyahu is not just a leader but a real symbol, and his downfall in their eyes is an injustice that must be corrected, a move that they perceive as a personal attack on them.
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Since the formation of the new government, they have their heads down. Hurt. Disappointed. Abandoned. Full of rage. The announcement has thrown the Likud into a tailspin. Since Netanyahu issued his video call to join the Likud, 1,400 new members have joined within hours.
The phones in Ze'ev's fortress are collapsing. At this rate, if it continues like this, Netanyahu will reach his destination on the set date.
The move surprised many, because for many years Netanyahu has not invested time and energy in intra-party moves. This time is different. It is clear to everyone that before the general elections there will be primaries for both the party leadership and the composition of the list for the Knesset. Whoever functions by the end of August will be able to participate in the elections for the movement's institutions: the conference, the secretariat and the bureau, which will be held towards the end of 2022.
Netanyahu wants full control of these institutions. They are the ones who will set the rules of the game for the real fight.
The opposition leader, by the way, does not plan to sit in the Likud chairman's office in the Ze'ev Citadel, but in the former prime minister's office in the Ampa House in Herzliya. Far from the hustle and bustle, closer to home.
Others saw this as a rather strange move, since, contrary to plans, such a step could work against Netanyahu. The one who has so far prevented the census from being opened online was Netanyahu himself.
The move was intended to prevent the group of 'new Likudniks' from carrying out a mass census, when their entire goal was actually to replace him. While most of his opponents saw his removal as a goal, the new Likudniks are not satisfied with that, and are now working to remove him from the party leadership as well.
Many Netanyahu supporters fear that opening the census online will also increase the group's activity. A few hours after Netanyahu's announcement of the census, the leader of the new Likudists, Lior Meiri, wrote: "The Likud, up to its neck in debt, is overcoming its fear of the new Likudists and reopening its functioning. If we don't now register 40,000 to save the party, which is plagued by corruption and decay, and with it the country, then what are we worth?""
The column is published in Israel Today.'
