ABSTRACT

Leading up to the contest against Eitan Livni in 2009, Benjamin Netanyahu worked feverishly to recruit new stars that would restore some of the Likud's former attraction. Netanyahu knew that their return would enhance his candidacy and restore his status as the legitimate leader of the heirs’ generation. Since Livni was being portrayed as a symbol of clean politics, he sought out individuals who shared similar prestige. Netanyahu believed that having Dan Meridor on his team would weaken the extreme-right image that adhered to the Likud in the media in the wake of Feiglin's drive to enlist extremist Religious Zionists into the Likud en masse. Netanyahu, who had held a projected advantage of six mandates, lost a great number of votes to satellite parties, ending up with twenty-seven mandates. Netanyahu already had a small but solid and harmonious right-wing–ultra- Orthodox coalition wrapped up and ready to proceed.