Likud Supreme Court Rejects Smadar Mores' Bid to Shorten Candidacy Qualification Period

The Likud party's Supreme Court has rejected Smadar Mores' petition to shorten the required qualification period to run in the party's primaries for the 26th Knesset. As a result, Mores will not appear on the ballot for the upcoming Likud primaries. Mores had filed an urgent petition against the Likud movement, its Central Election Committee, and the Management Committee, requesting a reduction in her qualification period and inclusion on the candidate list. She argued that her 15 years as principal of the "Nofim" state elementary school in southern Tel Aviv prevented her from engaging in party activities due to restrictions on public employees. Mores resigned from her educational role in August 2024 to pursue public and political work and had campaigned personally to join the Likud list. She claimed she requested the qualification period reduction from the party chairman and Management Committee on July 7 but received no official response, later learning her request was denied despite initially being assigned candidate number 205. Mores also alleged her name was removed from the candidate list without a reasoned decision and cited cases where other candidates received shortened qualification periods, arguing the decision violated equality among candidates. The Likud Supreme Court's dismissal means Mores will be excluded from the primary ballot.