Dud Bitan seeks to block Likud primaries from being scrapped

MK David Bitan has filed an urgent petition to Likud's internal court, asking it to stop the party from canceling its primary elections and replacing them with a steering committee. The petition says the move would amount to a "constitutional power grab" that would violate Likud members' right to vote and run for office.

Bitan argued that the party cannot strip tens of thousands of members of their right to choose their representatives to the Knesset just one month before the primaries. He said the rules cannot be changed midstream.

"It is impossible to deprive tens of thousands of members of the right to choose their representatives to the Knesset a month before the primaries and change the rules of the game while the game is already underway," Bitan said. The court has been asked to intervene before any decision to cancel the primaries takes effect.