Likud Court Rules on Knesset List Placements After Ballot Dispute

The Likud party's internal court has ruled on the placement of two prominent members on the party's Knesset list, settling a dispute that arose from discrepancies in ballot counting in Beer Yaakov. The court rejected appeals filed by Minister Gila Gamliel and upheld the results of a recount, which showed significant differences from the initial count.

According to the ruling, Member of Knesset Eti Atia will be placed in the 20th spot on the Likud list for the 26th Knesset, a position reserved for women. Minister Gila Gamliel will be placed immediately after her, at number 25. This decision concludes a controversy sparked by the Beer Yaakov ballot box, where the initial count awarded Gamliel all 240 votes, but a recount eight days later gave her only 103.

Gamliel had appealed the recount, accusing Haim Katz, chairman of the Likud Center, of manipulating the results to benefit Atia. She had also filed a police complaint regarding suspected ballot tampering. "I will not let Haim Katz steal the election for me for Eti Atia," Gamliel had stated following the initial recount results.

The Likud court dismissed Gamliel's appeals by a vote of four to one, affirming the Central Elections Committee's decision to accept the second count as the definitive outcome for the Beer Yaakov polling station. The court's ruling also addressed the departure of MK Tali Gottlieb from the Likud list; Gottlieb announced she is joining the Otzma Yehudit party, led by Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, where she will be placed second.

Following Gottlieb's departure and the court's decision, the Likud court instructed the movement's administration and the elections committee to proceed with promoting female representation on the list according to party regulations. Atia will take the 20th position, and Gamliel the 25th.