Likud MK Bittan warns scrapping primaries could destroy the party

Likud MK David Bitan, who petitioned against replacing the party primaries with a selection committee, said in a Monday morning interview on 103FM that the move would hurt Likud and could eventually wipe it out. He argued that the committee system does not fit Likud and warned that changing the rules so dramatically just a month before the vote is unacceptable.

Bittan said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would prefer to choose lawmakers the way other parties do. “It itches his hands,” he said, adding that Netanyahu wants to appoint Knesset members himself, something he said is alien to Likud’s democratic tradition. He argued that Netanyahu would not have entered Likud in the first place if such a committee had existed when he came from the UN, because senior figures like Binyamin Begin, Roni Milo, Ehud Olmert and Dan Meridor were not interested in him. “Thanks to democracy he entered Likud and became prime minister,” Bittan said.

He also said he had told Netanyahu that if he wants to choose candidates, he should bring three names to lead the list, and claimed Netanyahu could place Itamar Ben Gvir in the slate if he wanted. Asked whether he is satisfied with the current Likud slate, Bittan said he is not happy with everyone, but he does not make the decisions.

Bittan warned that without primaries, “Likud’s vitality will end two months before the election,” and added that many parties have disappeared over the years. “A party cannot be sustained on a non-democratic basis,” he said, predicting that Likud could be erased “within eight years.” He also commented on the US deal with Iran and the tension between Donald Trump and Netanyahu, saying, “Donald Trump is doing damage to Likud, that is completely clear,” and added that Israel will still have to prevent Iranian buildup every two years.