Netanyahu, Danon hold rival Likud events

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu skipped a Likud Central Committee convention led by committee head MK Danny Danon in Ashkelon on Monday, choosing instead to attend a toast in Petah Tikvah in honor of the upcoming Jewish New Year.

The Ashkelon conference, attended by hundreds of Likud committee members, was called in order to discuss the government’s handling of Operation Protective Edge in Gaza this summer, and featured some indirect criticism of Netanyahu, as well as disappointment among the crowd that the prime minister chose not to show.

“We must rebuild our deterrence in the next round,” Danon said, “in a way that no commentator will be able to even discuss if there was a victory, because the victory will be clear.”

No Likud ministers attended the Ashkelon gathering, and Moshe Feiglin was the only other MK present besides Danon. Feiglin spoke early in the gathering, then headed to Petah Tikva to be at Netanyahu’s event.

Other speakers refused to criticize Netanyahu directly, NRG reported. Instead, the committee made do with a declaration supporting IDF soldiers, and recognizing the importance of the fight against Hamas.

It also passed a symbolic declaration calling for the toppling of the Hamas government in Gaza.

Meanwhile, in Petah Tikva, Netanyahu said that “Likud is the home for everyone.”

He also praised the IDF’s performance in Gaza. “For fifty days and nights we hit them with a victorious strike– in homes, in tunnels… Hamas retreated from all its demands. Hamas leaders thought Israeli civilians were weak, but you are strong. You are the best.”

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat, and Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz all attended Netanyahu’s Rosh Hashana toast.

Danon himself was a vocal critic of the prime minister throughout the operation, asserting that Netanyahu had not deployed enough force in order to ensure that the Gaza-based terror group Hamas would never attempt to rearm. Danon also denounced Netanyahu’s “humiliating” decision to accept a July peace proposal — one that was later violated by Hamas.

In light of his criticisms, Danon was dismissed from his post as the deputy minister of defense by Netanyahu several days after the commencement of the offensive in Gaza. He later issued further critical comments about Netanyahu.

Danon, who represents a hawkish Likud young guard that has grown increasingly vocal and demanding in recent years, sought earlier this year to pass new bylaws in the party that would dramatically weaken the post of the party chairman, Netanyahu. After a long fight in the party institutions, Netanyahu retained his control over the party institutions, but the tension between the two has not abated.

Netanyahu’s approval ratings tumbled dramatically in the aftermath of the conflict, as a large contingent of the Israeli public believed that their government, not the military, failed to achieve victory in the 50-day military campaign that took the lives of over 2,100 Palestinians — half of them gunmen, according to Israel — and 72 on the Israeli side.