Netanyahu Tightens His Grip on Likud as 140,000 Party Members Vote on Election Slate
Monday's primary — reshaped by rule changes that hand Netanyahu control of nine reserved slots — sets Likud's roster for an October election polls say could cost the party a third of its seats.
About 140,000 members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party went to the polls Monday to choose the party's candidate list ahead of the country's Oct. 27 national election, in a primary reshaped by last-minute rule changes that hand Netanyahu unusually direct control over who lands the most winnable spots on the ballot.
Polls opened at 10 a.m. local time and were set to close at 9 p.m., with roughly a quarter of eligible voters having cast ballots by mid-afternoon, according to The Times of Israel. Netanyahu had initially pushed to cancel the primary altogether before settling on a compromise: a Likud Central Committee vote last month that let him personally select the candidates for nine reserved slots among the party's top 29 positions, on top of his own guaranteed top spot.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, Likud chairman Haim Katz, Defense Minister Israel Katz and political newcomer Oren Dobronsky were also given predetermined slots, leaving a shrunken pool of open positions for veteran lawmakers and newcomers to fight over — including firebrand Knesset member Tally Gotliv and ministers Shlomo Karhi and May Golan, all said to poll well with the party base but less well with moderate voters.
A WINNING LIST THAT WILL ENSURE THEY DO NOT FORM A NARROW GOVERNMENT WITH THE ARAB PARTIES.
Casting his own ballot Monday, Netanyahu said he was voting for what he called "a winning list" that would keep his opponents from forming a coalition government with Arab-led parties.
A Shrinking Governing Party
The primary carries real stakes: public opinion surveys project Likud winning just 22 to 24 Knesset seats in October, down from the 32 seats it currently holds — a decline analysts tie to lingering fallout from the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack and years of war since, according to Al-Monitor. With a smaller expected caucus, every slot on the list carries added weight for lawmakers hoping to keep their seats.
The vote wasn't without friction. Gotliv alleged irregularities at some polling stations, writing on social media that ballots were being distributed "without my name" on them and urging supporters to flag anything suspicious. Other candidates separately reported complaints about misnumbered ballots.
Final results were expected overnight once polls closed at 9 p.m. local time, setting Likud's roster roughly ten weeks before Israelis vote in what is shaping up to be one of the most closely watched elections of Netanyahu's career.