Regev Denounces New Likud

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s legal battles hung over the Likud primaries on Tuesday, as the New Likud faction, which has been critical of him, sought places on the party list.

Culture Minister Miri Regev (Likud) denounced the New Likud on Tuesday, charging that it “represents the left and is trying to harm and change the DNA of our party. We will beat them and it will happen if everyone comes out to vote and influences [the results],” The Times of Israel quoted her as saying.

The New Likud was an outgrowth of the 2011 social justice protests. Its leaders claim that they seek to set a middle-class oriented agenda for the Likud.

But many Likud members have accused them of acting as a fifth column for the left, trying to influence the party from within.

New Likud claims it has 8,000 members who are eligible to vote in the primaries. The Likud party has some 119,000 members, in all.