ABSTRACT
This chapter compares leadership primaries in Belgium and Israel, starting with an analysis of the contexts and reasons for their adoption. Belgium and Israel are worlds apart in terms of geostrategic situation. The chapter examines leadership primaries in the three main parties that have led coalition governments: Likud, the Labour Party and Kadima. Before discussing the introduction of primary elections for party leadership selection, we must first clarify the role of party leaders in the Belgian and Israeli systems. In sum, the explanations for the timing of the adoption of primaries and also some of the motivations for adopting them share similarities, but are also somewhat different when we look at Belgium and Israel and also when focusing on particular parties within each system. In terms of the inclusiveness of the selectorate, the chapter shows that the selectorate comprised party members in all the leadership primary contests in Belgium and Israel.
