Israel's Knesset Election Lists Close Amid Likud's Internal Drama

The deadline for submitting candidate lists for Israel's 26th Knesset elections is Tuesday, September 8th. On the first day, the Central Elections Committee received 18 lists, with parties having until 10 PM to submit theirs, potentially extended to midnight by the committee chair. The main focus of the final day is the Likud party, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to finalize his list of candidates for reserved spots. A Likud court had demanded Netanyahu release his proposed appointments within two hours on September 7th, warning that submitting them just before the secretariat vote could be seen as an "inappropriate procedural grab," a demand Netanyahu rejected. The secretariat meeting to approve these appointments has been repeatedly postponed. Several candidates have been reported for Likud's reserved spots, including Gideon Sa'ar, Haim Katz, and Yisrael Katz, with MK Michel Buskila expected due to an agreement with "Tikva Hadasha." Businessman Oren Dobronsky, initially offered a top-ten spot, withdrew his candidacy. Netanyahu has since appointed Elisha Madan, a reservist severely wounded in Gaza, and Talik Gvili, mother of a soldier killed on October 7th, to reserved list positions. Lawyer David Peter, who represented the government when Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara refused, is also slated for a reserved spot.

Six major political forces, including Likud, Shas, United Torah Judaism, the Hadash-Ta'al-Balad joint list, Bezalel Smotrich's "Tzionut Datit," and Benny Gantz's "National Unity," postponed their submissions to the final day. United Torah Judaism is undergoing significant changes, with Moshe Gafni stepping down from "Degel HaTorah" leadership to be replaced by Yaakov Asher, and Uri Makleb also out. In "Agudat Yisrael," Yisrael Eichler will be replaced by Elikim Stark. Shas's list, discussed with the Council of Torah Sages, includes Yosef Elnatanov and reserve Lt. Col. Dror Amos, with MKs Yoav Ben-Tzur and Moshe Abutbul securing fourth and seventh places respectively. The Hadash-Ta'al-Balad list saw the last-minute departure of Jafar Farah due to sexual harassment allegations, prompting Hadash to seek a female replacement. "Tzionut Datit" lost the chance to unite with Ofer Winter's "Am Israel" party, which submitted its own list. "National Unity" failed to merge with Gilad Erdan's "Achdut" party after Erdan exited the race; MK Michael Biton left Gantz's party, but former Beit Shemesh mayor Aliza Bloch joined. Potential talks with Yoaz Hendel, who formed a joint list with Yaron Zelicha, are also being discussed. Parties that submitted lists on the first day include Gadi Eisenkot's "Yashar," Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid's "B'Yachad," Yair Golan's "Democrats," Itamar Ben-Gvir's "Otzma Yehudit," Mansour Abbas's Ra'am, Ofer Winter's "Am Israel," and Hendel and Zelicha's "Miluimnikim - Kalkalit."