Parties running in the Knesset elections handed in their lists of candidates ahead of the deadline for registration on Thursday night.

Efforts by some to find attractive candidates at the last moment descended into farce.

Likud flirted with the idea of adding a former Miss World to its list while in Bayit Yehudi, leader Naftali Bennett incurred the wrath of his colleagues by adding a former footballer.

The constitution of both parties allows leaders to add their own hand-picked candidates, partly to balance the results of the primaries.

Likud members voted for a largely masculine and right-wing list while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu searched for more consensual female figures.

His preferred choice was Netanya Mayor Miriam Feirberg who declined. Other candidates considered were Jerusalem Post columnist Caroline Glick and on Monday the name of former Miss World Linor Abergil, in recent years a campaigner fighting violence against women, was also floated.

Finally, he chose two academics, Dr Anat Berko, a counter-terrorism expert and Dr Limor Smimiyan for the 11th and 23rd positions on the list.

Mr Bennett however stuck with one of his more unorthodox choices and appointed former Beitar Jerusalem striker Eli Ohana, one of the most famous footballers in Israeli history.

The appointment angered many in his party, particularly since Ohana, for years a Likud supporter, publicly sided with the late prime minister Ariel Sharon during the disengagement from Gaza.

One Knesset candidate even announced he would not be running in Bayit Yehudi. But Bennett stuck to his guns, confidantes insisting it was crucial for the party to broaden its appeal.