Netanyahu Demands 11 Entrenched Slots in Likud List Before Agreeing to Primaries

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has upended the Likud’s internal decision on how to choose its Knesset slate, with the party’s constitution committee set to meet Sunday night to decide between a primaries election and a list-making committee. Netanyahu is now demanding 11 reserved spots, or "sharons," within the top 20 places on the list as a condition for holding primaries.

That would give him direct influence over at least half of Likud’s realistic Knesset candidates. Until now, he had sought 10 reserved spots only up to the 30th place. One Likud local authority head said that if Netanyahu gets 11 reserved places in the top 20, it would amount to a back door around a committee and would leave primaries with almost no real meaning.

The decision on the election method has already been postponed several times because of Netanyahu’s demand, and he now needs a ruling soon so the party can prepare in time for primaries. Likud’s internal court partially accepted MK David Bitan’s petition against canceling the primaries, saying that if Netanyahu personally wants to cancel them he would need to pass changes through the party’s institutions, but it refused to issue an injunction because no formal request to cancel the primary vote had been filed. The court also said the petition relied on complaints from associates and that such political briefings have no legal weight.

Separately, Eli Shetui, the father of Idan, who was murdered at the Nova music festival and abducted to Gaza, said he is considering running in the Likud primaries. He said, "I am in a situation where I am giving up everything except the mission dictated to me by my son Idan. I want to voice the pain of those who were murdered, and do as much good as possible for the citizens of Israel."