Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz to an urgent meeting Wednesday following a decision by the Likud Secretariat, which Katz heads, to significantly reduce Netanyahu's powers in the party. The Likud administrative body voted Tuesday to strip the party chairman -- Netanyahu -- of a number of powers, including overseeing Likud's finances, appointing senior functionaries, and controlling the party's election headquarters, and to move the authority for these matters from the chairman to the secretariat. The meeting between Netanyahu and Katz was described as tense, and afterward Katz instructed the Likud Secretariat to suspend the move. Still, Likud insiders said the decision was a "declaration of war" by Katz on Netanyahu. Likud legal adviser Avi Levy said he would petition the Likud Court to repeal the decision, although it is not clear whether an appeal would still be necessary. As part of the vote, the secretariat also named attorney Ilan Baumbach as its independent legal adviser. Levy vehemently opposed the move, saying, "It shouldn't be possible for every party institution to have its own legal adviser." Environmental Protection Minister Zeev Elkin, Welfare and Social Services Minister Haim Katz, and secretariat members MKs Nava Boker and Jackie Levy all voted in favor of the reducing the prime minister's powers in Likud institutions. Minister Tzachi Hanegbi voted against the move. A member of the Likud Court, which debated the issue on Monday, ahead of the secretariat's meeting, said the panel did not believe the secretariat would vote in favor of the move. Katz's associates denied the move was aimed at undermining Netanyahu, saying Katz only wanted to introduce proper administration to Likud institutions. Tuesday's vote follows a period of tension between Netanyahu and Katz rooted in Katz's disappointment at not being named foreign minister during the last portfolio rotation, as well as his frustration that his biggest rival in Likud, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, holds a more senior government position. Katz also holds the intelligence portfolio, which senior Likud sources hedged may now be taken from him. "Katz went too far, and now it's a world war," one official said.
PM, transportation minister lock horns in Likud power struggle
PM Netanyahu summons Minister Yisrael Katz to urgent meeting after Likud Secretariat, which Katz heads, decides to reduce Netanyahu's powers in party • After meeting, Katz suspends move • "Katz went too far, and now it's a world war," says party insider.
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