A March 22 pre-Passover holiday event for Likud activists provided a clear view, unprecedented in its intensity, of the riveting process by which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shaped the party in his image and according to his needs. The traditional holiday toast held at the Tel Aviv Fair Grounds was devoted in its entirety to Netanyahu’s legal and public defense against the criminal investigations dogging him.

Since returning to power in 2009, Netanyahu has assiduously held two pre-holiday parties for Likud activists: ahead of Rosh Hashanah and before Passover. These events reflected the lively spirit typical of the Likud, regardless of Netanyahu’s fortunes. They would feature speeches by senior Likud ministers, by Knesset members with opposing views to those of the party chair, in keeping with the party’s inherently democratic nature.

At the 2009 Rosh Hashanah toast — held against the backdrop of the Obama administration's pressure on Israel to engage in talks with the Palestinians and Netanyahu’s milestone Bar-Ilan speech favoring a two-state solution — Knesset member Danny Danon warned the prime minister not to count on automatic party backing. “Likud members are not the prime minister’s rubber stamp. We will back him only if he adheres to Likud values and does not continue the construction freeze” in the West Bank settlements, said Danon — now Israel’s envoy to the United Nations. Education Minister Gideon Saar, on the other hand, urged his fellow Likud Knesset members to back Netanyahu because “the way to defend Jerusalem is to protect a Likud-led government.”

A year later at the 2010 pre-Rosh Hashanah toast, as Netanyahu prepared to leave for Washington to discuss reviving negotiations with the Palestinians, he pledged to his party members that any peace agreement would be based on effective security measures and Palestinian recognition of the Jewish state.