Bitan Petitions Likud Tribunal to Block Last-Minute End to Primaries

Likud MK David Bitan filed an urgent petition on Tuesday morning with the party’s tribunal, seeking to stop any move to replace the party primaries with a appointed “arrangement committee.” The tribunal had not yet set a hearing date. Bitan calls the plan a “constitutional ambush” and says it would strip tens of thousands of Likud members of their right to choose and be elected.

In his petition, Bitan asks for an interim injunction barring any steps toward canceling the primaries or establishing the committee. He also wants the tribunal to rule that even if the party’s constitution can be changed in principle, any such change cannot apply to the current election cycle, only to the next one at the earliest. He further demands that any vote on constitutional changes be held by secret ballot.

Bitan argues that the plan contradicts Likud’s constitution, earlier tribunal rulings, and decisions issued on June 4 and June 14, which said primaries must be held and that the party convention was meant only to approve the primary election rules. He says changing the system just before the election would violate principles of reliance and equality, after candidates, activists and members spent years preparing for primaries. In his words, “Likud was and will remain a democratic movement,” and “I believe in Likud members and their right to decide, not in an appointed committee.”

The petition also cites a draft opinion by Likud’s internal comptroller, attorney Shay Galili, who reportedly concluded the arrangement committee plan is illegal and, at most, could take effect only in the next election. Bitan says canceling the primaries could also expose Likud to about 30 million shekels in financial damage, if members demand refunds of their dues after being denied the vote. The petition lands amid a broader legal fight over convening the Likud convention, after the Jerusalem District Court last week issued a temporary injunction blocking the gathering. That happened after party legal adviser Avi Hillel said Likud would not oppose the injunction, prompting CEO David Sharan, with Benjamin Netanyahu’s approval, to remove him from the case and leading Hillel to resign.