Netanyahu may have competition for Likud committee chairmanship

Deputy Speaker of the Knesset Danny Danon will reportedly challenge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for leadership of the Likud Party central committee when it convenes Sunday night.

Sources close to Danon said his goal in challenging Netanyahu is to ensure that Defense Minister Ehud Barak, of the Independence (Atzma’ut) party, will not receive a slot on the Likud’s party list. If Barak switched parties ahead of September’s anticipated early elections, and if he were given a spot high enough on the list to allow him to remain in the Knesset, a current member of Likud would presumably be pushed off the list and out of the legislature.

There is doubt among Israeli pundits as to whether Barak’s Independence party will receive the minimum votes necessary to ensure  its leader a seat in the next Knesset.