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Netanyahu multiplies efforts for Likud to be the biggest party

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chalked up a major victory in convincing Zehut leader Moshe Feiglin to take his party out of the running for the Sept. 17 election.
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Up until yesterday, Zehut Chairman Moshe Feiglin had been the person most courted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this campaign season. Netanyahu invited Feiglin for hours of private talks at his official residence. He called him. He showered Feiglin with attention in a way only Netanyahu can when he has an interest in them for his own personal reasons. All the attention paid off. Feiglin finally surrendered, and on Aug. 29 he and Netanyahu stood side by side at a Tel Aviv news conference savoring the moment. They reminisced about their past as enemies and celebrated their new friendship.

Netanyahu spoke first, announcing that Feiglin would be given a ministerial portfolio according to the agreement between their two parties. He also said that when the Knesset reconvenes after the Sept. 17 Knesset elections, a reform would be adopted to allow the import of medical marijuana, a Feiglin pet project. In exchange, Zehut will not contest the elections. When Feiglin spoke, he sounded almost in love, recounting that in his long talks with Netanyahu, he had discovered that they share the same economic worldview of the free market.

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