Likud internal review flags Herzliya branch as top membership-payment case

A new internal Likud document points to the Herzliya branch as the party branch with the highest number of members marked for review over alleged irregularities in how membership dues were paid. According to a Ynet report, 776 of the branch’s 2,326 registered members were flagged because of suspected payments made with an account or payment method not belonging to the members themselves or to first-degree relatives.

The issue comes amid broader scrutiny of the party’s membership lists. State Comptroller findings said that in thousands of cases, dues were paid using the same payment method for members with different surnames who, apparently, had no connection to one another. The new document is meant to map the allegations raised by the comptroller and examine the suspicions.

The report says the comptroller identified suspicion around about 28,000 Likud members out of roughly 130,000 total party members. Likud, however, says many of the cases involve payments made by first-degree family members, a practice the party says has long been common.

Rafi Kadoush, a powerful figure in the Herzliya branch, has recently been in the public spotlight after it emerged that he was appointed political adviser to Minister Mai Golan. In response, Kadoush said, “I have never paid for anyone. According to the data you showed me, they are all members of one family who probably paid for each other, father for son, son for father, which is allowed in Likud. Code 55 is a code name for anyone who paid by postal card so that the personal card would not circulate or be shown publicly, exactly as is happening now.”