Likud Court Investigates Alleged Forgery of Netanyahu’s Vote in Party Primaries

During ongoing hearings on petitions challenging the results of the Likud party primaries, the party’s internal court is investigating a serious allegation that Benjamin Netanyahu’s vote was forged. Although Netanyahu did not participate in the vote held last Monday at polling stations across Israel, official election results recorded that he had voted. The court is examining whether Netanyahu’s vote was falsified. A Likud spokesperson denied the forgery claim, stating that a ballot was brought to Netanyahu personally.

One petitioner submitted an official Excel document from the Central Elections Committee showing Netanyahu’s participation in the vote despite his actual absence. This document was presented during the current hearing at the Metzudat Ze’ev courthouse in Tel Aviv. The vote in question passed by a narrow margin, initially reported as five votes but later corrected to a two-vote difference. The Likud Central Committee approved Netanyahu and Katz’s proposal granting the prime minister eight reserved spots on the party’s Knesset list and amended the primary election rules. However, the initiative allowing current ministers and MKs to run in districts passed by only two votes.

Following the results, numerous petitions were filed alleging irregularities, vote tampering, and the removal of observers from polling stations. Due to the significance of these petitions, Likud’s court president, MK Michael Kleiner, appointed an expanded panel of five judges, including lawyers Akiva Nof, Yitzhak Bam, Rafi Boker, and David Elbaz. The court is currently deliberating over more than ten petitions. Among the petitioners is MK David Bitan, who claimed that polling committee workers were instructed by Likud management not to record objections in protocols, violating election regulations. He also cited examples of polling stations where valid votes against Netanyahu and Katz’s proposal were allegedly disqualified, while invalid votes supporting the proposal were counted as valid.