Likud court overturns Netanyahu bid to cancel primary in favor of appointed committee

Likud's internal court overturned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bid to cancel the party's upcoming primary in the event of a wartime emergency and instead select its Knesset slate through a committee he would control. In its ruling, the court said there is "no room to open even the slightest door to canceling the primary," arguing that Likud "is not a one-man party and will lose its character if it becomes one." The judges ruled that if security conditions make the vote impossible, postponing it or using electronic voting, though not currently permitted under the party's constitution, would be preferable.

The decision overturns a measure approved by the Likud Constitution Committee last week allowing Netanyahu to appoint a five-member committee of Likud mayors to determine the party's Knesset slate if a wartime emergency prevented the primary from being held. The committee had also agreed to Netanyahu's demand to grant him eight reserved slots on the Knesset list, seven within the first 30 places, to install handpicked candidates.

Netanyahu had previously threatened to cancel the primary if his demand for more reserved seats was not met.

Ahead of the court's ruling, associates of Netanyahu said he preferred primaries over a nomination committee, considering that such a procedure might "create intrigues, anger, and resentment within the party" ahead of the legislative elections. An official said the committee provision was intended solely to address an exceptional emergency, such as a ban on gatherings by the Home Front Command, saying, "As long as the security situation does not require it, there will be primaries."

Applications for the primaries, scheduled for August 17, were due to be registered the following Sunday. The Likud conference was set to approve voting procedures as well as the eight reserved seats granted to Netanyahu, with an additional seat for Gideon Sa'ar. Nearly 5,000 members of the central committee are called to vote in 18 polling stations across the country.