Netanyahu set to gain unprecedented control over Likud slate in battle over primaries

PM seeking 8-10 reserved slots for handpicked candidates amid resistance to his broader plan to replace primaries with a selection committee

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears poised to secure unprecedented influence over the composition of Likud’s next Knesset slate, ahead of elections expected by the end of October, according to a Monday report by the Kan public broadcaster.

Amid a dispute over controlling the composition of Likud’s next Knesset slate ahead of the elections, Netanyahu has been weighing either replacing the primaries, set to be held by the end of July, with a selection committee or installing up to 10 of his handpicked candidates into the top 35 places on the Likud slate.

Both options, which have faced fierce internal opposition, would enable Netanyahu to dominate the Likud slate, marking a sharp departure from the party’s tradition of selecting candidates through internal democratic elections.

According to Kan, the premier now believes that dropping the more sweeping proposal to cancel primaries could help him win approval for reserving slots, a prospect that he has repeatedly sought but been denied by party institutions.

The arrangement has yet to be approved, however, with Likud MK David Bitan and other senior lawmakers reported to oppose it.

The development came after Bitan — among the party’s most influential figures — launched a public and legal campaign against efforts to replace the party’s primaries with a selection committee, warning Monday that Likud could “disappear” within a decade if the party’s primaries are canceled.

“The entire foundation of Likud is the connection between elected officials and party members. That gives the party its vitality,” Bitan told 103FM Radio. “All parties that operated [without primaries] were eventually wiped out. You can’t sustain a party on a non-democratic basis.”

The veteran lawmaker filed a petition with Likud’s internal court Sunday night to block any effort to cancel the primaries, arguing that such a move would amount to a “constitutional coup,” depriving tens of thousands of party members of their right to choose the party’s representatives.

He also asked the court to require that any proposal to amend the party constitution be decided by secret ballot.

Likud uses a complex primary system to determine much, though not all, of its candidate list and has long prided itself on its internal democratic processes. It is the only one of a handful of Israeli parties that hold primaries to select both its leader and Knesset slate, alongside the left-wing Democrats Party, which is set to hold internal elections on July 20, and the Arab-majority Hadash, which held primaries in May.

Asked whether Likud itself could disappear without primaries, he replied: “Within eight years, in my opinion, yes.”

“You can’t change the system so dramatically a month before primaries. If people want to discuss changing the system, let’s discuss it for the next election,” Bitan said, arguing that Netanyahu himself would never have risen to lead Likud if not for the party’s democratic system.

The issue is expected to come to a head Thursday, when Likud’s Constitution Committee is scheduled to discuss the upcoming primaries. Any decision made regarding the electoral process will then have to be approved by the Likud Central Committee.

The constitution committee voted unanimously earlier this month to hold primaries by July 28, but did not set a specific date.

The premier’s push for reserved slots, which has long faced resistance from within the party, comes amid concerns that primaries could elevate candidates who are highly popular among the Likud base — including MK Tally Gotliv and ministers Shlomo Karhi and May Golan — but who internal party polling suggests are less appealing to moderate right-wing and swing voters whose support could prove decisive in the upcoming national election.

Currently the largest party in the Knesset, with 32 seats, polls conducted in recent months have generally projected Likud dropping to around 22-23 seats, bringing it neck-and-neck with or only slightly overtaking the opposition’s Yashar Party led by Gadi Eisenkot, which has been steadily rising in the polls for months, and the Together slate of former prime ministers, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid.

Both the pro-Netanyahu bloc and the opposition bloc remain short of the minimum 61 seats needed to form a coalition – excluding the Arab parties, which several parties have ruled out as coalition partners.

But the gap between the two is significant: Even without support from the Arab parties, the opposition is polling at 59-60 seats, just shy of a majority, while the pro-Netanyahu bloc trails far behind at 49-51 seats.