In a video released before the vote on Monday, Bitan urged Central Committee members to reject the proposal, accusing Likud Constitution Committee chairman and minister Haim Katz of \u201cbuilding a faction within a faction\u201d and suggesting that Katz had backed the premier\u2019s proposal, first approved by his committee, in exchange for a reserved slot for himself or an ally.<\/p>\n
\t Bitan has said several of the reserved slots are expected to go to politicians outside Likud, including Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar, whose New Hope faction merged with Likud last year. Media reports have also suggested New Hope MKs Ze\u2019ev Elkin and Michel Buskila, as well as either Katz or his close ally MK Eti Atiya, could receive reserved spots.<\/p>\n Bitan and others have also speculated that the prime minister intends to use two slots for a member of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich\u2019s Religious Zionism and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir\u2019s Otzma Yehudit parties, in a bid to incentivize the two parties to run together on a joint list, since Smotrich\u2019s party has been hovering around the electoral threshold for months.<\/p>\n According to senior Israel Democracy Institute researcher Assaf Shapira, the arrangement would allow Netanyahu to allocate places on Likud\u2019s slate to candidates formally representing allied parties, even though they would not remain part of the Likud faction after the election, which is what they did in the last election in 2021.<\/p>\n \u201cLikud held one place for Ofir Sofer from Religious Zionism and ran as a joint list between Likud and Sofer\u2019s one-man faction, which was formed only for this purpose,\u201d Shapira said of the 2021 election. \u201cImmediately after the election, his \u2018party\u2019 split from Likud and Sofer joined Religious Zionism. It was part of a broader political deal intended to convince Smotrich to run on a joint list with Ben Gvir.\u201d<\/p>\n The same mechanism could now allow Netanyahu to reserve realistic places on the Likud slate for candidates from Religious Zionism or Otzma Yehudit. Doing so would strengthen Netanyahu\u2019s prospects of forming a coalition by encouraging Smotrich and Ben Gvir to run together, maximizing the right-wing bloc\u2019s overall seat count and reducing the risk of either party failing to cross the electoral threshold, but further reduce the number of winnable positions available to Likud candidates.<\/p>\n The expectation that many of the reserved slots could go to politicians from outside Likud as part of the prime minister\u2019s efforts to bolster his coalition has fueled anger among some party lawmakers, even as others have sought to curry favor with Netanyahu in hopes of securing one of the few remaining slots on the list.<\/p>\n Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi urged activists in his own video to vote in favor of the proposal and \u201cstand behind the prime minister until victory.\u201d Defense Minister Israel Katz, Transportation Minister Miri Regev, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and coalition whip Ofir Katz were among the many others who released videos urging voters to support the measure.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir attend a vote at the plenum hall of the Knesset in Jerusalem, on July 16, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n
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