Likud internal watchdog says Netanyahu cannot cancel primary vote

Likud’s internal watchdog, attorney Shay Galili, has issued a legal opinion against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to cancel the party’s primary election scheduled for July. The report, published Friday in Yedioth Ahronoth, says the proposed creation of a selection committee to decide the Knesset slate is illegal under the party’s current legal framework.

Galili wrote that the proposal is “manifestly unacceptable” unless there is explicit personal consent from all party members, citing what he called a fundamental change in the party’s structure and common basis. He argued that stripping members of their right to vote would amount to a basic change in Likud’s structure, and even if the party’s constitution were amended to abolish primaries, the change could apply only to future elections, not the imminent one.

He also rejected an alternative plan to reserve 10 spots for Netanyahu on the list. “A decision on a ‘reserved place’ on the list also requires a constitutional amendment process,” Galili said, adding that under the current legal situation, even the party central committee cannot approve placing any candidate who was not chosen in primaries unless the constitution is first amended.

The opinion follows recent efforts by Netanyahu, who met in the past few days with local leaders close to him to promote a plan for a committee that would assemble the slate. His aides say he wants to reshuffle the list and worries about new MKs being elected in districts and sectors where he cannot control who wins. One key target is MK Tally Gotliv, whose internal polling shows her surging toward the party’s top five and overtaking senior figures such as Minister Miri Regev. Gotliv said Netanyahu actually values her and revealed that a survey he commissioned showed she would be worth five seats if she ran independently. In response to Ynet, she said, “It will not help him. We will not let Netanyahu cancel the primaries. The Likud is not the Yesh Atid party. In Likud we are committed to the voters, not the party leader.”