Netanyahu Reportedly Warns Likud Allies Over Reserved Seats Demand

Tensions inside Likud over reserved spots on the party’s Knesset slate intensified on Tuesday, as party sources said Benjamin Netanyahu sent a sharp message to Defense Minister Israel Katz in recent days. According to the report, Netanyahu warned that if he does not get the reserved seats he wants, he may take the “quality people” he hopes to place on the list and leave Likud with them.

Likud officials stressed that the message was passed indirectly and said the comments are being viewed mainly as hard bargaining in the talks between the sides, not as a real plan to break up the party or quit it. The dispute centers on Netanyahu’s demand for protected places on the candidate list ahead of the next Knesset election.

Party figures who addressed the reported threat warned that Netanyahu’s insistence could create a serious crisis. One Likud source said, “Insisting on ten reserved spots could break Likud.” The controversy over the reserved seats continues to escalate as the internal negotiations proceed.