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JERUSALEM - Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of Israel's Likud Party and favourite to win the coming general election, has moved quickly in an attempt to head off the sudden rise of hardline right-wingers in his movement.
When the Likud held primary elections last week to choose its list of candidates for the February vote, among the successful candidates were men such as Moshe Feiglin, a settler who advocates annexation of the occupied West Bank and who was banned from entering Britain this year because of his extremist views.
In public, Netanyahu declared it "the best team that any party is capable of giving the country". In private, he was reportedly furious, particularly with the ascent of Feiglin.
A successful petition to the Likud election committee has now raised regional representatives up the party list. As a result, Feiglin has been pushed down from 20th place to 36th, which means he may not win a seat.
Opinion polls have Likud well ahead of its closest rivals.
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