Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is looking into reserving spots on the Likud party list for Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and former Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon in the top ten slots, Kan News reported on Tuesday, citing Likud sources.
According to the report, Netanyahu would also reserve a seat for the Chairman of the Center for Local Government and Modi’in-Maccabim-Re’ut Mayor Haim Bibas, lower on the list.
Sources within the Likud told Kan that Netanyahu is pushing to reserve eight or nine candidates on the party’s Knesset list, with three being in the top ten.
Reports have also indicated that Netanyahu recently approached IDF soldier Ari Spitz with an offer to join the list. Spitz was severely wounded serving in the Gaza Strip and lost both of his legs and an arm, and also lit a torch at this year’s Independence Day ceremony.
Likud to meet on Wednesday to discuss future of party, primaries
The Likud is set to meet on Wednesday to discuss the party's future and to debate replacing the primaries with a “selection committee” system.
The meeting will be attended by the prime minister, party secretary Haim Katz, and other members of the party’s institutions.
Party officials are applying significant pressure on their leadership to reach a decision as soon as possible, and have expressed growing anger within the party over the delay in determining their political future.
The option of canceling the primaries is increasingly seen as less likely due to legal and internal party obstacles.
The prime minister has said in closed conversations that there is broad agreement within Likud on the need to refresh and renew the party list. A small number of reserved slots would be absorbed within the list and would not bring about the meaningful change the list requires.
In his view, there is not a single candidate who can bring voters with them, and therefore, a mass of new candidates is needed in order to politically reshape Likud and demonstrate renewal and upgrading.
Primaries are ‘beating heart of Likud movement’
“The primary system is not a technical tool but the beating heart of the Likud movement,” Netivot Mayor Yehiel Zohar told Walla.
“It is the only mechanism that ensures proper representation for districts, women, the periphery, and entire sectors in Israeli society who see Likud as their political home.”
The Netivot mayor said he supports specific reserved slots on the list, but “from there to canceling primaries is a huge leap.”
He explained that a limited number of reserved spots approved by Likud institutions is, in his view, a legitimate tool for making targeted adjustments intended to balance and diversify the list.
“But this tool must come as an addition to grassroots selection, not as a replacement. Likud’s strength lies in the power of the people’s choice, not in alienated lists born in closed rooms,” he stressed.