Settlement Advocacy Groups Exclude Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana From Likud Primary Recommendations

Ahead of the Likud party primaries, settlement advocacy groups released a list of 12 recommended candidates for party members to support, notably excluding Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana. The list, published on Sunday evening, includes prominent figures such as Yariv Levin, Shlomo Karhi, Tali Gottlieb, Amit Levi, and Avichai Boaron, all identified as supporters of the settlement movement.

Ohana, a senior Likud member and the current Knesset Speaker, was again left off the recommended list, signaling that these groups do not endorse him in the upcoming vote. This exclusion follows a similar move by the "National Jewish Forum in Likud," which also published a recommended list of 12 candidates under the theme "Settlement, Judaism, Values" without including Ohana.

The National Jewish Forum's list features candidates like Yariv Levin, Miri Regev, Keti Shitrit, Ariel Kallner, Avichai Boaron, Eli Cohen, Miki Zohar, Hanoch Milwitsky, Idit Silman, Shlomo Karhi, and Dudi Amsalem. Ohana's absence from both influential settlement-aligned recommendation lists highlights a lack of support from this key faction within the party.

As the primaries approach, Ohana finds himself outside the backing of two major settlement and national camp groups within Likud, while several of his rivals receive their endorsement. This development could impact his standing in the internal party elections and reflects ongoing factional dynamics within Likud ahead of the vote.