Netanyahu Calls Likud Central Committee Members to Secure Support Ahead of Primary Changes Vote

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is actively reaching out to members of the Likud Central Committee to secure their backing ahead of a crucial party conference vote scheduled for tomorrow. The vote will decide on proposed changes to the party's primary election system and the allocation of reserved spots on the Knesset list. Netanyahu personally called committee members, urging them to support the amendments approved this week by the party's Constitution Committee.

The proposed changes grant Netanyahu seven reserved slots on the Likud list: three in the top ten, three in the second ten, and one in the third ten. It also allows ministers and Knesset members to run within districts and sectors, and gives the prime minister authority to adjust districts and reserved slots between positions 29 and 33 if necessary. However, some Likud ministers and MKs have opposed the proposal, fearing it could harm their chances in the primaries.

The vote will be conducted by secret ballot. A Likud Central Committee member told Channel 7 that Netanyahu sounded pressured ahead of the decision. In addition to the primary system changes, Minister Haim Katz plans to push for a vote to merge the Shfela district with the Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem district, despite a Likud court ruling against such a merger. The court argued the districts are unrelated, but Katz intends to bring the issue to the party conference for a final decision.