\n Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday hailed the election of a raft of loyalists to run on behalf of his right-wing Likud party in close-fought October 27 polls.\n<\/p>\n
\n At 76, Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving prime minister but faces an uphill battle as he fights for re-election, with polls predicting that Likud's number of parliamentary seats could fall from 32 to as low as 22 out of 120.\n<\/p>\n
\n The party's primaries were seen as a measure of Netanyahu's control over Likud as well as an audition for aspirants to succeed him, although Netanyahu has given no indication he wants to leave politics.\n<\/p>\n
\n The top 10 names on Likud's list include seven ministers, the parliament speaker and coalition whip, all of whom are considered close to Netanyahu.\n<\/p>\n
\n Energy Minister Eli Cohen, who formerly served as foreign minister, secured first place on the slate behind Netanyahu.\n<\/p>\n
\n Cohen faced a police investigation over allegations that in his previous role he improperly issued diplomatic passports to Likud loyalists including Netanyahu's son.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Prime Minister and Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu is very pleased with the results of the Likud primaries and congratulates those who were elected to the party's list,\" a party statement said, adding the slate reflected \"renewal and the integration of new forces at the top of the list.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Monday's primary voting saw Likud's 140,000 members choose their candidates.\n<\/p>\n
\n Netanyahu has also set aside around 10 spots for people directly of his own choosing.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Together with the candidates Netanyahu will appoint, who will further strengthen the list, the Likud team under Netanyahu's leadership will achieve a major victory and the formation of a broad national government immediately after the elections,\" the Likud statement said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Netanyahu, leading the most right-wing government in Israeli history, has launched a regional war with attacks in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iran and elsewhere since the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.\n<\/p>\n
\n Netanyahu is Israel's first prime minister to face a criminal trial, with several charges of corruption against him. He denies wrongdoing and has sought to delay his trial due to his role as a wartime leader.\n<\/p>\n
\n Netanyahu also faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in Israel's massive offensive in Gaza, charges he angrily denies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday hailed the election of a raft of loyalists to run on behalf of his right-wing Likud party in close-fought October 27 polls. At 76, Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving prime minister but faces an uphill battle as he fights for re-election, with polls predicting that Likud's number of parliamentary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-163462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n