Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is actively attempting to sabotage the candidacy of World Likud chairman Danny Danon for head of the Jewish Agency, sources in the party revealed on Wednesday.Netanyahu and Danon have feuded for many years. The former prime minister fired Danon from his post as deputy defense minister in 2014 for being too critical of a truce he had reached with Hamas. Danon has also run against Netanyahu for head of Likud.Asked who the party supports to be head of the Jewish Agency, a Likud MK said that “the Likud is Netanyahu, and Netanyahu is just against Danny Danon.” Netanyahu initially supported former Likud MK Uzi Dayan’s candidacy to head the agency, but since Dayan’s departure from the race, he has not endorsed another candidate.
Another Likud MK, who is active in Jewish world politics, said he believes Netanyahu supports his former ambassador to the US Michael Oren. But if the Likud leader has such a preference, he has not said it to anyone involved in the race.After last week’s initial round of voting in the agency chairmanship selection committee, it became clear that even though the top two vote-getters were former MKs Danon and Ruth Calderon, the two candidates with the best chance of getting selected were Danon and Oren.