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Clear the lines: The Likud demands a "declaration of allegiance" from thousands of new Likud members

The party's director general recently sent a letter to the group's members, demanding that they vote for her in the elections as a condition for their continued functioning. Senior Likud member: "Anti-democratic procedure"

• The Likud
• Benjamin Netanyahu

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In recent weeks, the Likud has been leading a move to disqualify thousands of functionaries from the new Likudniks group, in an attempt to dilute the group's power and influence on the party's primaries - Walla learned today (Thursday)! NEWS. The party's director general, Zuri Siso, sent a letter to thousands of functionaries affiliated with the group, in which they were required to sign a "declaration of allegiance" and pledge to vote for the party in the elections as a condition for continuing their Likud membership.

"I hereby declare that I identify with the Likud movement and The ideological path of the Likud and that I intend to vote for the Likud in the Knesset elections, "reads a form sent to the new Likud members." I undertake not to do anything that could constitute aid to a party or political movement competing with the Likud. "Recipients are asked to return the form within 45 days - And if not - their membership in the party will be terminated.

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The New Likudniks is a group of functionaries that began to organize after the social protest in 2011 with the aim of influencing the ruling party from within and promoting secular and liberal forces within the party. In recent years, the group's leaders have led a mass campaign in which thousands of functionaries have joined the party, much to the chagrin of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Likud officials such as Miri Regev, Yariv Levin and David Bitan, who liken them to a foreign scourge and a fifth corps of leftists wanting to take over the party.

According to the group's leaders, they have recruited about 15,000 new Likud functionaries in the last decade. The Likud administration, led by CEO Siso and Likud attorney general Adv. Avi Halevi and backed by the prime minister, has taken a series of steps in the past two years to curb the strengthening of new Likudniks, such as blocking functioning via the Internet, disqualifying functions and expulsions in the movement's court; Appeals in the courts seeking to overturn the decisions at Wolf Fortress were dismissed.

The motivation to dilute their power increased after in the last primaries for the party list for the Knesset, in February 2019, the new Likudniks had a real impact on the results, and it is estimated that about 5,500 members of the group turned out to vote disciplinedly. The group distributed a list of nominees, like the other power groups in the Likud, which included, among others, Yuli Edelstein and Israel Katz, who reached the top of the list thanks to these votes, and Nir Barkat and Gila Gamliel, who entered the opening ten.

Last October, there was a split in the group against the background of internal power struggles, and a new movement was formed called the "New Likudniks - the Democratic Group", but for the Likud leaders - there is no difference between the two groups. Prior to the Likud leadership primaries, in which Netanyahu faced Gideon Saar, the Likud administration led another move to oust thousands of new Likud members, given their public and resolute opposition to Netanyahu's continued rule, although the group officially did not recommend voting for Saar but "for everyone" to vote.

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In recent weeks, Netanyahu has sent messages to Likud MKs and ministers to support the cancellation of primaries and the freezing of the existing list if there are further elections. However, party officials estimate that these messages are mainly intended to reassure the back seats on the list and crowd the forces towards dissolving the Knesset. May change his mind if the Knesset does dissolve, in an effort to replace some of the MKs affiliated with Saar camp and strengthen its support camp.

The move to withdraw the new Likudniks, at the present time, signals that Ze'ev Fortress is still preparing for the possibility of primaries. The declaration of allegiance was sent in early August, and according to estimates by the party - the move will lead to a withdrawal of 5,000-3,500 members of the group.

"Likud has accumulated significant evidence that the new Likudniks have been running for Likud for several years for citizens who do not identify with Likud goals, and do not intend to vote for Likud in the Knesset elections. They functioned for the Likud only to enjoy The Likud's ability to realize its goals and harm it, "reads a letter attached to the statement.

"As long as your function for the Likud was done out of sympathy with the movement's goals, out of a desire for action for its success and with the intention of voting for the Likud in the Knesset elections, we want to ensure that you can continue to be Likud members and enjoy all the rights and responsibilities."

The declaration of allegiance was presented as a request to continue the membership in the Likud, and the recipients were asked to fill it out within 45 days, "and if not - your membership in the party will be terminated." However, the Likud administration also reserved the right to invite the new Likud members for further clarification in any case.

"Fascist and blatant move"

The new Likudniks have not yet responded to the new loyalty demand that came from Zeev Fortress, and are still considering their steps. "A declaration of allegiance is completely illegal, and the requirement for people to declare what they vote for at the polls is against the laws of the state," he told Walla! NEWS Nir Hirschman, one of the group's leaders. "This is a fascist, blatant, ugly and anti-democratic move, and if they succeed - a sign that democracy in the Likud is dead. East Germany was also called the Democratic Republic of Germany. We think there are strong enough forces in the Likud to prevent this."

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