Surprising Offer: Netanyahu's Circle Explores Adding Rubik Danilovich to Likud List
According to political sources, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is exploring the possibility of adding Be'er Sheva Mayor Rubik Danilovich to the Likud list for the Knesset. Danilovich was reportedly offered a reserved spot high on the list, though his office stated he does not comment on such offers.
According to political sources close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this week the feasibility of reserving a spot for the mayor of Be'er Sheva, Rubik Danilovich, on the Likud list for the Knesset was checked. Sources state that during these contacts, Danilovich was offered a reserved spot very high on the list.
From the circle of Danilovich, a popular mayor in the capital of the Negev, it was stated in response that the mayor of Be'er Sheva does not respond to offers he received.
As mentioned, the mayor of Be'er Sheva left the Labor party many years ago, claiming in various interviews that he had changed his views. In recent years, he has frequently called for unity among the people.
The feasibility of adding Danilovich to the ruling party, just moments before the closing of the lists, comes following Netanyahu's efforts to integrate former Chief of Staff and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi into the Likud list. It was learned that in recent days, several well-known mayors identified with Likud spoke with Ashkenazi in an attempt to exert pressure on him and convince him to join the party's list as one of Netanyahu's reserved candidates.
In Netanyahu's circle, they see Ashkenazi as a particularly significant reinforcement for the Likud list, and mainly as someone who could be the party's senior security figure in the election campaign. Efforts to recruit him have been ongoing for some time, but now, with the approach of the closing of the lists, renewed pressure is being exerted on him in an attempt to bring about a last-minute breakthrough.
Netanyahu's courtship of Ashkenazi is not new. Already in the 2022 election campaign, it was reported that a businessman close to Netanyahu approached Ashkenazi and offered him a reservation in Likud with a political horizon, but Ashkenazi rejected the offer then. In the past, there were also conversations and meetings between Netanyahu and Ashkenazi on security issues, and in 2020 Ashkenazi even claimed publicly that Netanyahu offered him the position of Minister of Defense.
