Likud's Miri Regev Challenges Netanyahu's Grip on the Party

Knesset member Miri Regev is deeply mired these days in her campaign for the role of chairwoman of the Likud party Secretariat, vis-à-vis Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz; elections will take place at the end of the month (June).

It is an interesting contest, not only due to the personalities of the contestants but because the campaign tells the story of a torn party at odds with itself, searching for its path after its failure in the elections, and headed by a weakened leader. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lacks a significant camp of supporters in the Likud: He is not viewed as an influential player in the inner forum, and there is tremendous anger at him for leading the Likud to an alliance and merger with former Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s party (Yisrael Beiteinu).