Knesset member Yuli Edelstein, the No. 2 lawmaker in the Likud party, on Saturday called for the opposition faction to hold leadership primaries if its chief, former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, cannot form a government in the current Knesset if the ruling coalition collapses.

“If Netanyahu knows how to assemble a government in the current Knesset, I definitely won’t stand in his way because I said the State of Israel doesn’t need elections. If not, then hold a competition for leadership of the party,” Edelstein told Channel 12 news.

“I usually don’t get into fights that I don’t think I can win,” he said.

The coalition headed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is teetering, but if a majority of the Knesset votes for an alternative government, it could be formed without resorting to new elections.

Edelstein, a former Knesset speaker and senior minister, had announced last year that he would challenge Netanyahu to lead Likud. He said Likud primaries could be organized in a matter of weeks.

“I think there are two things Israel does not need — one is the continuation........

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