Likud Watchdog Says Netanyahu Cannot Cancel Primary Elections or Bypass Them Legally

Likud’s internal watchdog, attorney Shay Galili, has issued a sharply worded legal opinion rejecting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s effort to cancel the party’s primary elections scheduled for July and replace them with a specially appointed committee. According to the report, revealed by Yedioth Ahronoth, such a move is not legally valid under the party’s current rules unless every party member gives explicit personal consent.

Galili wrote that the proposal is “manifestly unacceptable” before such unanimous consent is obtained, because it would fundamentally change the party’s structure, its character, and the shared basis connecting its members. He also said that even if Likud’s constitution is eventually amended to eliminate primaries, the change could only apply to future elections, not the upcoming Knesset race.

The watchdog also rejected an alternative associated with Netanyahu, securing 10 personal reserved slots on the slate. Galili said any decision to create reserved places would also require a constitutional amendment, and that under the current legal framework even the party’s central committee cannot approve placing a candidate on the list without that person being elected in primaries, unless the constitution is formally changed.

The opinion comes as Netanyahu has been working intensively in recent days to bypass the party’s democratic mechanism. He has met with local leaders close to him to build a committee of loyalists that would select the Knesset list. People around him say he wants to “fix Likud’s list” and fears the election of new lawmakers in districts and sectors where he does not control the outcome.

The main target appears to be MK Tally Gotliv, whose rise in internal polls has reportedly pushed her toward the party’s top five, ahead of senior figures including Minister Miri Regev. Those polls are said to worry Netanyahu, who allegedly wants to push Gotliv out of the top 10 or off the list entirely. Gotliv said Netanyahu respects her and noted that he had commissioned a poll showing she could win five seats running independently of Likud. In response, she told ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth, “This will not help him. We will not let Netanyahu cancel the primaries. Likud is not Yesh Atid. In Likud we are committed to the voters, not to the party leader.”