Likud Faithful: Keep Gilad Sharon Off Party List

Among the candidates for a slot on the Likud list is Gilad Sharon, son of the late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon – and his candidacy has raised the ire of many Likud members, to the extent that they are circulating a petition against allowing Sharon to run in the party primaries.

Sharon, the Likud members charge, was “the architect of Sharon’s 2006 disengagement, and he evicted us from our homes. We request that members of the party reject Gilad Sharon’s request to participate in the party primary.” Not only was Gilad Sharon a major proponent of the disengagement, the petition says, he was also the one who advised his father to leave the Likud and establish Kadima, “leading to the terrible split that weakened the Likud.”

In 2005, Ariel Sharon, then prime minister, executed the Gaza disengagement plan, which saw some 10,000 Jews evicted from their homes in Gush Katif. Sharon also shut down four Jewish towns in northern Shomron. Following the disengagement, Sharon pulled out of the Likud and established Kadima, which went on to garner the largest number of votes in the 2009 elections, and which saw the later-disgraced Ehud Olmert take the office of prime minister.

Gilad Sharon is seeking to compete for a slot on the party list reserved for residents of the Negev. The petitioners said that there were “many other more qualified candidates.” Among them is Lior Katsav, son of disgraced President Moshe Katsav, the petition said.