Benny Begin, son of Likud's founder, urged Israelis to vote against Netanyahu

The appeal on the eve of the election

Benny Begin, son of Likud founder and former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, on Sunday called on the party's supporters to vote to remove Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from power, warning that he had become the Anadolu agency reports.

A call to Likud voters

Begin addressed Likud voters directly, urging them to back the parties seeking to replace the government in the October 27 election. “Vote on Tuesday for the parties that will bring a change of government now, for the future of our children and the happiness of our grandchildren,” he added.

Criticism of the prime minister's actions

Begin, who previously served in governments led by Netanyahu and later broke with the party, described the prime minister in recent days as “A prime minister like that is a threat to all of us”, he said.

Context and the political weight of the statement

Recalling his criticism of Netanyahu from the Knesset podium five years ago, Begin said that at the time he had asked how much lower the prime minister could sink, and that Israelis had since watched his Begin spent most of his political career in Likud, serving as a member of parliament and a minister before distancing himself from the party and becoming a critic of Netanyahu. His father was among the founders of Likud and served as prime minister from 1977 to 1983. The statement is notable because it comes from a member of a political dynasty whose name is tied to the very founding of the party — and it came two days before the October 27 election, that is, right in the voting period, when an appeal to the Likud base could affect the distribution of votes. How much it will affect the outcome does not follow from the published reports; the source contains no polling data or information about the party's reaction.