Likud Sues Social Forum Members for Half a Million Shekels Over Cancelled Netanyahu Primary Vote

The Likud party is escalating its legal battle following the cancellation of its central committee primary elections. After a court injunction halted the vote on a controversial proposal to grant personal slots to party leader Benjamin Netanyahu, Likud's legal advisor, Attorney Ilan Bombach, announced plans to sue members of the Social Forum, who filed the petition that led to the injunction, for approximately 500,000 shekels. The Social Forum is accused of deliberately exploiting a "clerical error" in the party's Constitution Committee minutes to mislead the court, causing significant financial damage as polling stations were already prepared nationwide.

The primary vote, scheduled for the same day, was to decide on Netanyahu and Minister Haim Katz's unprecedented proposal to allocate eight personal slots to Netanyahu on the party list, including three in the top ten and three in the second ten. However, the Lod District Court issued the injunction following multiple petitions, including one from the Social Forum affiliated with the National Labor Federation, demanding a counterproposal be presented before proceeding.

Bombach claimed the Social Forum knowingly presented inaccurate minutes suggesting their proposal had majority support in the Constitution Committee, while in reality, it had not been approved. He criticized the Forum for bypassing the Likud's internal court, which was simultaneously reviewing the issue, and misleading the district court with false representations. Bombach emphasized the severity of the misconduct and the financial losses caused by the vote's postponement.

Opposing the Netanyahu-Katz proposal is MK David Bitan, chairman of the Economics Committee, who warned that the introduction of personal slots has led to a decline in Likud's poll numbers and could harm the party's electoral prospects. The Social Forum responded by urging Likud's management to comply with the party's internal court rulings and justified their move to the district court after the management refused to accept those decisions. They pledged to continue representing the interests of the party's 150,000 members ahead of the upcoming elections.