Likud court rejects Netanyahu’s proposal to cancel party’s primaries
OCCUPIED PALESTINE, July 27 (YPA) – The Supreme Court of Israel’s Likud Party rejected on Sunday a proposal by party leader and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel the party’s primaries for selecting its candidates for the Knesset if security conditions prevent them from being held.
In a statement, the party’s court said that the clause Netanyahu sought to approve, which would cancel the party’s primaries in the event of a security escalation, is “illegal,” according to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation.
The court added: “Holding the primaries is mandatory, and we see no possibility of canceling them.”
The Likud Party’s internal court is the judicial body responsible for enforcing the party’s constitution, resolving internal political disputes, and ruling on petitions submitted by candidates and party members.
According to the court, “the optimal way to choose Likud’s candidates is through primaries, and there is no room to open even a small loophole in advance to cancel these elections, as this is not the approach of the Likud movement.”
The court called for holding electronic voting if traditional voting cannot be conducted due to a security escalation.
Sources told the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation that several ministers close to Netanyahu, in addition to figures supported by heads of local authorities, prefer the option of a special committee, as it could allow them to improve their positions on the party’s list.
Among the names mentioned in this context are Defense Minister Israel Katz, Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, Education Minister Yoav Kisch, Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar, and Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman.
The issue of potentially canceling the primaries is part of a broader battle Netanyahu is conducting to shape the Likud list for the next Knesset himself, apparently out of concern that open elections could once again bring candidates who may harm the party’s image and negatively affect voting support, according to the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
The newspaper added: “From the beginning, Netanyahu demanded combining the internal elections with a large number of reserved seats for candidates chosen by him personally, and hinted that if his demand was not accepted, he would seek to completely cancel the primaries.”
The general elections are scheduled to take place at the end of October, amid a decline in Likud’s standing in recent opinion polls in favor of the “Yashar” party led by former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot.
@E.Y.M