Likud Faces Deadline Crisis as Primaries and Knesset List Submission at Risk

The Likud party is confronting a critical deadline as the submission of its candidate list for the 26th Knesset is in jeopardy due to delays in resolving an appeal by MK Afif Abed. The Supreme Court has ordered all parties to respond by 16:30 on August 12, 2026, regarding Likud's urgent request to decide on Abed's appeal today rather than the scheduled hearing tomorrow morning. Likud warns that any delay could postpone the primaries, set for August 17, by at least two weeks, threatening the timely submission of the party's list.

The urgency stems from a warning by the company managing the Likud primaries, which stated that printing of voting materials must begin by 16:00 today to avoid jeopardizing the entire process. The primaries involve over 100 voting sites and approximately 2,000 workers, with contracts already costing around 8 million shekels and site rentals costing 350,000 shekels. If delayed, the primaries could only be rescheduled for August 31 or September 1, incurring an additional cost exceeding 5.5 million shekels and complicating the schedule for submitting candidate lists by the September 8 deadline.

Alongside the legal battle, MK Afif Abed plans to file a complaint with Lahav 433 against two Likud court judges, accusing them of submitting a false and allegedly forged document to the District Court. This document was not part of the official court record or the Likud court's decision. The controversy follows a narrow party conference vote allowing sitting MKs to run in reserved district slots, a decision later overturned by the Likud court, which Abed challenges as beyond the court's authority.

The Supreme Court's decision on the appeal will determine whether the primaries proceed as scheduled or face costly delays, with significant implications for the party's election preparations and internal disputes continuing to unfold.