Likud Court Approves Sa'ar and Katz's Reserved Seats, Delays Haim Katz's Approval Amid Primary Campaign

The Likud party's internal court approved the reserved seats (shriyoonim) for Gideon Sa'ar and Israel Katz ahead of the August 17, 2026 primaries. However, the court issued a warning and postponed the approval of Haim Katz's reserved seat due to his ongoing campaign in the primaries. The court ruled that voting on Katz's reserved seat could raise concerns about the fairness of the process and instructed the party secretariat to halt any vote on his seat immediately.

This development followed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rejection of using his reserved seat quota to secure the two seats for Sa'ar and Israel Katz. Instead, an alternative arrangement was crafted to allow incumbent Knesset members to run in district slots. The Likud convention approved three key proposals: amending the primary election rules, increasing Netanyahu's reserved seats to eight, and a third clause promoted by Katz to enable incumbents to compete in district races, improving candidates like Atia and Shitrit's chances of entering the list.

Katz initially won a narrow victory for his proposal by five votes at the convention, but the Likud court later overturned this decision. The court's intervention has complicated the internal party dynamics ahead of the 2026 elections, highlighting tensions between party leadership and candidates over the reserved seat allocations and primary election procedures.