International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, Dec. 9, 2002

Despite facing charges of election 'bribery', for supposedly offering government jobs to Party supporters, Environment Minister Tzachi Hanegbi succeeded in reaching the top of the Likud Party Knesset list on Sunday, just behind Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, a Sharon supporter, will be ranked "only" in twelfth place, while other Sharon loyalists finished way behind in the vote, leading Ha'aretz to call the Netanyahu camp the "clear victor" in the Likud primary, with ten supporters in the top 31 slots.

Mofaz, who supported Sharon in the leadership battle shortly after having been appointed to the cabinet, had hoped to finish in the top five despite having only just joined the party - a result that would have seen his ongoing cabinet role endorsed by the wider Likud leadership.

Two other Sharon loyalists had even more disparaging results. Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, reportedly already offered a high-ranking cabinet position, ranked 33rd on the list just in front of Communications Minister Reuven Rivlin in 37th place. The Likud Party currently only holds 19 Knesset seats, but is predicted to make significant gains in January's national election with the top 40 names on the list having a "realistic" chance of winning seats.

Over 95% of the 3000-strong Likud central committee participated in Sunday's vote, which was significantly delayed as a result of various legal challenges relating back to Sharon's dismissal of proposals to alter the voting system at the Likud Party Convention in November.

Likud activists Uzi Cohen and Mordechai Halperin filed for an injunction just two hours before the scheduled start of polling at 10am in protest at the handling of the race. Anxious election officials suspended voting until 4pm while the disputed amendments, put up by Netanyahu supporters, were finally voted upon by the central committee and narrowly defeated, thus allowing the scheduled vote for the Knesset list to continue as planned. Voting then continued until midnight.

Finishing second in the vote, and ranked fourth on the Likud list, was Finance Minister Silvan Shalom. Media analysts said this was a strong showing for the minister despite the bad state of Israel's economy.

Other politicians with strong showings in the vote were Education Minister Limor Livnat at number 5, cabinet minister Danny Naveh in 6th place, and leading Netanyahu supporter MK Yisrael Katz, securing the 7th spot.