Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party is looking for creative ways to expand its campaign budget and funding ahead of what may be his last major election race, according to a Tuesday report by Yuval Segev on Channel 13 News.
The main idea under discussion, reportedly proposed by Yair Netanyahu and apparently backed by his father, is to speed up the sale of real estate assets owned by Likud. These include party headquarters and branch buildings around Israel, some of which have already been put up for sale over the past two years. The goal is to quickly generate cash that could be used to broaden the current campaign.
Likud insiders said the move is tied directly to the internal turmoil over efforts to cancel primaries and establish a arrangements committee, which has shaken the party in recent days. One source said, “Netanyahu is looking at the party right now and saying to himself, less important to me what happens to the movement after me, what matters now is the list, the campaign and his budget here and now.”
The report said Israel’s election budgets are formally closed and regulated, but there are legal ways to increase spending during a national campaign. The plan is to rely on millions of shekels from selling physical branch properties to cover a future deficit and ongoing costs. Likud rejected the report, calling any link between Yair Netanyahu and the party “complete fake,” and said the party’s rehabilitation has been underway for about a year, including layoffs and asset reductions to cut debt. It added that election spending remains closed and that no extra money is spent even when funds run short, as in previous campaigns.
