Likud orders partial recount of primaries votes
MK Hotovely looks to move up as thousands of votes reevaluated, but move not expected to dramatically reshuffle list
The Likud party will recount votes for its primaries in dozens of polls around the country, after some of the results proved to be highly improbable.
The partial recount will likely improve the standing of MK Tzipi Hotovely, who came in at 26th slot, placing her above Avi Dichter (seat No. 20), a former Shin Bet head and minister who is a newcomer in Likud, but is not expected to dramatically alter the makeup of the party list as it stands.
MK Moshe Feiglin, who was not included in a realistic slot on the Likud party list in the primaries, will most likely not be included on the finalized list either.
Hotovely filed an appeal to review the results earlier on Sunday, according to the Ynet news outlet, after Hebrew media reports indicated the final tallies were faulty.
According to Channel 2, in Beit Jann, MK Tzachi Hanegbi received 250 votes — but only 197 Likud members had voted overall. Similarly, in Jerusalem, MK Yuli Edelstein received nearly a thousand votes more than the number of voters at the station.
The TV station’s political correspondent Amit Segal tweeted on Sunday night that Hotovely had overtaken Dichter by 81 votes, but the recount was ongoing. The two were separated by a mere 750 votes as of last week’s count, which granted Dichter the last realistic seat on the party list, according to recent polls.
Hotovely came in 10th in the previous primary, making her the highest-placed woman on the party list last time.
The Likud released its initial tally in the party primaries on Thursday night, with Interior Minister Gilad Erdan and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein taking top spots behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after party members voted Wednesday.
The Knesset slate was hailed by Netanyahu as “fantastic,” and saw most of his favored candidates placed in slots high enough to likely secure a Knesset seat, and the poor faring of most of those candidates he did not favor. However, the list features only two women in the top 20 slots, and is low on Orthodox candidates and candidates favored by the settlement community, which could make Likud vulnerable to the Orthodox-nationalist Jewish Home party. Netanyahu may choose to address this when he appoints two candidates of his own choice for slots 11 and 23 later this month.
The Times of Israel Community.