News from Shmuel Sackett

I am sure you have been reading about this but just a quick "behind the scenes" –

We caught Likud cheating and will be fighting this with all our might.
Let me give you 2 very quick examples:

1) In this election, you had to vote ONLY in your local Likud chapter. Unlike in previous years when Likud members vacationing in Eilat could vote in Eilat (by showing proper ID) or people who work in Tel Aviv could vote there etc., this year you HAD to vote in your local chapter. Now that you know that, I would like you to explain the following: Late last night the Likud sent out the OFFICIAL voting results. In those results it shows that in the Likud chapter of Bet She’an Bibi received 1,030 votes and Moshe Feiglin received 44 votes. The total votes cast were therefore 1,074. The problem is that the total number of registered voters in Likud Bet She’an is only 737 members!! Let me repeat that: 737 were allowed to vote. 1,074 actually voted. Do you see a problem with that???
2) According to this same official tally, in Bet Shemesh Feiglin received 126 votes compared to 77 for Netanyahu. That means a total of 203 people voted. The problem is that our figures show that close to 400 people voted with Moshe getting over 270 votes!!

I will not go into MANY more specific examples that we have because we are not making that information public at this time. Trust me on one thing: Moshe did FAR BETTER than the 24% they are claiming.

Last point: I have a general rule of thumb that says that if you hear a report on the news and then hear that same report a few hours later telling you a different story – believe the FIRST report! I can think of many examples such as Hurricane Katrina, the World Trade Center on 9/11, various terrorist acts etc. whose first story was one thing and whose later story became the "cover-up".

Why am I saying this? On the night of the elections, the official Likud election HQ published a press release that said that Moshe received 36% of the vote. I am sure you saw it. It was reported every where! The Jerusalem Post carried it as well as their lead story. We were told this number by a leading official in Likud - 36%!!! Then, when the numbers come out we are down to 24%??? It simply can’t be.

Trust me that we will get to the bottom of this. I will keep you posted.

And our guys in Israel thought they could take a few days vacation -


Original Article Written Before Breaking News Above:

Short Summary of the Primary Vote: By Shmuel Sackett

This summary of the elections is being written even though there are irregularities in the results of the vote, about which we will be filing an official complaint. What is written here relates to the approximately 25% of the vote that Netanyahu concedes that Moshe won.

Allow me to begin – not with my words – but with a direct quote from Rena Matzliach, the political commentator for Channel Two Israel news:

"Despite Netanyahu's victory – Moshe Feiglin triumphed, as well. Not only did he preserve his power - he increased it and received one quarter of the votes. Feiglin is now an important fact. He is a significant political factor in the Likud, as he was prior to the elections. People who reached the upper levels of the Likud roster did so exclusively through Feiglin. Today, that will be even truer. He has power, voters and a devoted, loyal and very motivated camp. There is no doubt that he will be influential in the Likud now and in any future developments."

It is important to state that this is the feeling across the board in both Israel’s political as well as media world. Nobody felt that Moshe would do so well. You must remember that he was running against a very popular incumbent Prime Minister. 3 years ago, when Moshe ran against Bibi and received 24% of the vote, Bibi was NOT the Prime Minister. He was a regular Knesset Member, leading a party of just 12 MK’s. Today he is much stronger, much more popular and except for the issue of "hilltop settlements", doing very well. Challenging a Prime Minister such as that is usually considered political suicide and simply never done. Consider how many candidates in the Democratic party are challenging Obama for the Democratic nomination. It simply is not done. Moshe had the guts to do it. Moshe had the guts to stand up and say, "I will risk everything I have so that the world will see how Bibi has an opposition inside Likud." Not an easy thing to do.

Yesterday, we ran in 3 separate elections SIMULTANEOUSLY! It was the biggest elections in Likud in the last 35 years. Not only did we challenge Bibi for Chairman of Likud, we also ran close to 600 candidates for the Central Committee and the Local chapter committees. We still do not have the results of these elections but we are expecting to do very well. Although it was a logistical nightmare to pull off this "hat trick", we did the best we could, thanks to an amazing team of dedicated volunteers led by our campaign manager Shai Malka.

Now for a few numbers: As per current results, Moshe Feiglin received close to 15,000 votes: 7,000 more than in the previous elections.

80% of the votes currently counted (approximately 12,000) for Moshe Feiglin were from inside the Green Line. This is not Moshe's traditional power base, but shows how far his message has reached.

In many polling places, Moshe Feiglin defeated Netanyahu. For example: Lower Galilee – 82% and Bet Shemesh – 87%.

Allow me to close with a quote from Bibi – who said this several times in the last few weeks:
"I will consider it a victory if I receive 80% of the vote. Less than that will be unacceptable."

He ended with 75% (at most).