To make their Knesset lists as attractive as possible, party heads are trying to broaden the ranks of their lists with senior economic and business figures. Among the names being mentioned are outgoing Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) CEO Shlomo Yanai and outgoing Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) CEO Galia Maor.
It is by no means certain that either Yanai or Maor will want to jump into the political waters but they are being courted by a number of parties. Maor's name has been connected with charismatic TV news and host show presenter Yair Lapid's Atid party. Maor declined comment on the subject.
For his part, Yanai declared when he announced his resignation from Teva that he planned entering public life, thus providing fertile ground for speculation. As a former general and head of IDF southern command and IDF head of planning some feel he would be inclined to the Likud. But others suggest that his views are on the other side of the political map.
On the other hand, Lapid's party which would not require standing for primaries could provide an attractive path to the Knesset.
Yanai said, "I'm not responding to this or that speculation."
A spokesman for Atid said, "We are not discussing the subject of the list at this stage."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 6, 2012
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2012