(Jpost).Netanyahu's strongest Likud rival, MK Silvan Shalom, convened more than 400 Likud activists at his Ramat Gan home Sunday night, in a show of force intended to pressure the party chairman to give him a plum cabinet post.
Shalom sent an olive branch to Netanyahu in a speech in which "unity" was the word he uttered most often, but he also issued veiled threats to lead a rebellion against him inside the party.
"I told Bibi that there has never been such unity in the Likud, but that's only because I swore to him that I wouldn't commit any act that could be perceived as antagonistic," Shalom told the crowd that packed his house. "We have to play a central role in the next government. I don't want to get to the situation where Bibi is prime minister, but the Likud remains outside."
In his first public remarks since Netanyahu gave the Foreign Affairs post he had sought to Israel Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman, Shalom said he did not care about portfolios. But he noted with dismay that the Finance Ministry had not been offered to him or to anyone else in the Likud.
"My entire goal is to maintain unity in the Likud, which is in the national interest," Shalom said. "I have proven that before and I'm proving it today. For the Likud's path to lead for the next four years, the Likud must have influence in the government. With all due respect, the Likud won the election and not Lieberman, Shas or other parties."
Shalom said he kept his promise to Netanyahu that he would not complain about him in the press because they had shared goals. He called on Netanyahu to act to unite the Likud.
He quoted a Mishna in tractate Eduyot about actions being more important than words.
"We must remember that your actions can bring you close or can distance you," he said, quoting the sage Akavia Ben-Mehalalel
