Israeli Court Rejects Challenge Allowing Likud MKs to Run in District Primaries

The District Court on Monday dismissed a petition by Likud MK Afif Abed against the party's internal tribunal decision barring sitting members of Knesset from running in district primaries. Judge Yaakov Shaked ruled there was no judicial basis to intervene in the Likud tribunal's ruling, which followed significant irregularities in the party's primary voting process, including missing envelopes and discrepancies in vote counts.

The court cited the Likud Supreme Tribunal President Michael Kleiner's statement that the decision to annul the amendment allowing MKs to run in districts was lawful and that even if it were not, it likely would not meet constitutional equality standards. The tribunal had invalidated the change to Article 11 of the primary election regulations, deeming it improperly approved and violating the principle of equality.

This ruling is a setback for incumbent Likud MKs who had supported Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's allocation of eight secured slots on the party list, mostly in realistic positions, expecting to compete in district races. Many of these MKs may now face losing their seats in the next Knesset. The amendment granting Netanyahu these reserved spots had passed despite opposition from one-third of the party's central committee members.