Avi Dichter, a Knesset member (MK- Likud) and chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, has announced he is a candidate to be the Likud’s next candidate for prime minister, irrespective of whether Netanyahu runs or not.
To date, Dichter is the only Likud MK to say he will challenge Netanayhu. Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, who enjoys widespread support amongst both the party’s central committee and membership, said last week he would run for party head but also said he would not challenge Netanyahu. Katz made it clear that he would only run after Netanyahu has retired from public life.
The fact that a Likud front-bencher – and a close ally of Netanyahu – has openly challenged the prime minister, is an indication that the prime minister is losing the faith of his party due to mounting legal problems. Many observers and pundits believe that by the end of the year Netanyahu will have resigned and that new elections will be held some time between November 2017 and May 2018.
According to unconfirmed reports, Netanyahu has already sent out feelers to Attorney General Avihai Mandelblit, as to whether a “resignation in return for no indictment” deal is possible.
