The Likud’s top internal court approved on Wednesday a reserved slot on the party’s Knesset slate for senior minister Haim Katz, which was selected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one day after blocking a vote on the move.
The three-judge panel approved Katz’s placement by a majority, after unanimously approving reserved slots for Defense Minister Israel Katz and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Tuesday.
The court found on Wednesday that the party’s election rules allow Likud chairman Netanyahu to use his allotted slots to shape a slate representing the party’s different constituencies.
Netanyahu was granted the authority to determine eight slots within the first 30 spots on the party list last month following a vote on the controversial decision by the Likud Central Committee.
Likud announced late on Tuesday night that the defense minister should receive a reserved slot, in order to “allow him to focus on security needs rather than engage in politics at this time.”
The party also stated that Sa’ar would receive a reserved slot as part of the merger agreement between his party and the Likud, and that Haim Katz would receive a slot due to his senior position in the party as the Likud Central Committee chairperson.
The decision to grant the three ministers reserved slots required approval from the Likud’s secretariat. While the foreign and defense ministers’ slots were approved, the court issued an interim order blocking Katz’s slot because he had already registered for the August 17 primaries and begun campaigning.
The court said in its final decision on Wednesday that reserving a place for a veteran lawmaker who had intended to compete in the primary was less disruptive to other candidates than using the slot for an outside contender.
All three ministers will now receive the reserved slots on the party's list that were granted to them by Netanyahu.
The changes to the party's primaries that have expanded Netanyahu's control over the Knesset list have led to fierce internal tensions, with some party members in favor and others strongly against.
A fierce critic of changing the system has been MK Tally Gotliv, who is viewed as a candidate who would receive broad support from registered party members.
Gotliv sharply criticized the Tuesday decision to reserve the slots for the three ministers, condemning the defense minister.
She called the decision to grant the defense minister a reserved slot, “a disgraceful move that mocks Likud voters, who understand one thing more than all the veteran ministers: the need to fight the legal establishment that is persecuting the right-wing government and right-wing figures.”
Netanyahu reportedly has held several meetings with the Likud Central Committee chairman Katz, seeking to bridge disagreements over the primary system and secure internal support for changing the system.
There were also reports that Netanyahu has threatened to leave Likud if the proposed changes were not advanced.
Those within the party who oppose changing the primaries have argued that it will cause those who would otherwise score highly in the primaries to fall further down the list.
The Likud has for years prided itself on conducting primaries in which over 100,000 of its registered members are eligible to vote for the Knesset list. Netanyahu pushed to change the system in recent weeks ahead of the primaries, which were set for August 17.
Parties are not required to hold primaries in Israel, and only a few do so.
The Likud primaries are expected to be highly competitive. Likud currently has around 40 ministers and MKs serving in the government and Knesset, but recent polls project the party winning only about 25 seats, leaving many at risk of losing their places on the party’s Knesset list.
The debate on how to hold the Likud primaries comes ahead of the general elections, which are set to take place on October 27.
The tensions surrounding the slots also come after the Tel Aviv District Court on Monday rejected Likud MK Afif Abed’s attempt to restore a narrowly approved change allowing current and former MKs, ministers and deputy ministers to run in the party’s district primaries, leaving the restrictions in place ahead of the August 17 vote.
Likud had announced Monday that Netanyahu’s first reserved slot would go to entrepreneur and businessman Oren Dobronsky.
This is a developing story.