LIKUD INTERNAL STORM POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 005013 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/12/2015 TAGS: PGOV KWBG IS GOI INTERNAL GAZA DISENGAGEMENT SUBJECT: LIKUD INTERNAL STORM POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER DISENGAGEMENT REF: TEL AVIV 4946 Classified By: Political Counselor Norman Olsen for reasons 1.4 (b,d). (C) The Likud internal court has given Prime Minister Sharon at least a month of political breathing space by rejecting August 11 a petition by supporters of Binyamin Netanyahu to compel the Likud Central Committee to meet and vote on moving up Likud Party primaries. The court instead "asked" Central Committee Chairman Tzachi Hanegbi to determine within five days when the Central Committee will meet, and decided that at that meeting the Central Committee should discuss, but is not obligated to vote on, a date for Likud primaries. Hanegbi indicated to the media that the meeting would not take place until at least after disengagement, which would put it sometime in mid to late September, and that it could take place before the Jewish holidays begin October 4. Central Committee member and Netanyahu supporter David Sharan told poloff August 12 that he believes Hanegbi will decide on an early October date for the meeting. ********************************************* ******************** Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. ********************************************* ******************** KURTZER