Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to decide this week whether Likud will choose its Knesset slate through a nominating committee or through primary elections. After consultations on Sunday, he told Likud figures that he wants either an end to primaries and the creation of a nominating committee, or primaries in exchange for personal reserved slots on the list. Netanyahu was quoted as saying, “Either a nominating committee or reserved spots.”
Party members believe Netanyahu is pushing to cancel primaries so he can shape the list himself and save Likud millions of shekels in internal election costs. In private conversations, Netanyahu has said he is working toward a decision by consensus rather than by force, and that it would be made with senior Likud officials including Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Defense Minister Israel Katz and party central committee chairman Haim Katz.
The dispute has shaken the party and its institutions. Likud’s veteran legal adviser, Attorney Avi Halvi, resigned after criticism from Netanyahu over legal representation he gave the party on the primaries issue without the chairman’s approval. At the same time, party internal comptroller Attorney Shai Gilili issued a report saying Netanyahu’s move to cancel the primaries is illegal. A source close to Netanyahu said he has a contrary legal opinion that would allow him to do so.
The internal battle is now heading to the Likud court. MK David Bitan, one of the party’s strongest power brokers, filed a petition on Sunday against Netanyahu to block a nominating committee and keep primaries, which he said are required by the Likud charter. “You cannot deny tens of thousands of members the right to choose their representatives,” he said. In a Ynet Studio interview, Bitan warned that “without primaries, Likud will disappear,” and said Netanyahu himself benefited from the party’s democratic system. He added that reserved spots would not be a problem, but the issue is how many and where they are placed.
