{"id":587377,"date":"2026-08-17T12:06:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T12:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/587377\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T12:06:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T12:06:14","slug":"likud-primary-underway-in-heated-contest-for-few-remaining-slots-on-partys-knesset-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/587377\/","title":{"rendered":"Likud primary underway in heated contest for few remaining slots on party’s Knesset list"},"content":{"rendered":"

Polling stations opened across the country Monday morning for the Likud primary, as as candidates jostled for a limited number of positions on the party slate for the October 27 national election, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expanded his personal control of the list.<\/p>\n

Some 140,000 party members are eligible to vote in the polls, which opened at 10 a.m. and will close at 9 p.m.<\/p>\n

One of the few parties to determine its electoral lineup via primary, Likud has long prided itself on its internal democratic process. However, changes to the system this year, pushed by Netanyahu, have shrunk the number of open spots on the roster and turned the vote into an unusually hotly contested race as party politicians jockey for a good enough showing to secure a likely Knesset seat.<\/p>\n

Public opinion polls have consistently shown Likud getting 22-24 seats in the October 27 election, down from its current 32. A decision last month by the Likud Central Committee significantly expanded Netanyahu\u2019s control over the party\u2019s Knesset slate, granting him the power to place eight people of his choosing in reserved slots among the top 29 places on the list \u2014 a number subsequently expanded to nine.<\/p>\n

This meant that a host of veteran lawmakers and newcomers were competing for an increasingly limited number of realistic slots on the list.<\/p>\n

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Monday\u2019s primary is going ahead despite Netanyahu\u2019s reported efforts to cancel it<\/a> and to select its Knesset slate through an appointed committee he would control.<\/p>\n

Apart from his own spot atop the slate, which is not up for grabs in this vote, Netanyahu now controls the 3rd, 5th, 9th, 11th, 15th, 18th, 26th and 29th slots, giving him unprecedented influence over the party\u2019s roster.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tA poster of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Likud primaries in Tel Aviv, August 17, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni\/FLASH90)<\/p>\n

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar<\/a>, Likud Central Committee chair Haim Katz and political newcomer Oren Dobronsky<\/a> have already been handed three of the eight earmarked slots \u2014 while Defense Minister Israel Katz was given an additional ninth reserved spot.<\/p>\n

In a statement released through a party spokesman Sunday night, Netanyahu said that during the primary he will cast his ballot \u201cfor a winning list that will ensure [Yashar party chairman Gadi] Eisenkot and [The Democrats party chairman] Yair Golan do not form a narrow government with the Arab parties as they\u2019ve promised.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yair Golan is the only member of the opposition to support forming a government with the Islamist Ra\u2019am party, a possibility which has been publicly rejected by the other anti-Netanyahu bloc leaders. Ra\u2019am was a member of the previous, and short-lived, Lapid-Bennett government. Netanyahu himself is widely reported to have attempted to form a coalition with Ra\u2019am.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tLikud members vote in the party\u2019s primaries in Jerusalem, August 17, 2026. (Sam Sokol\/The Times of Israel)<\/p>\n

\u201cI trust you, Likud members, to choose your representatives correctly according to your own judgment. I am not interfering in the nationwide list and I wish everyone good luck,\u201d Netanyahu added, referring to seats chosen by members at large and not appointed by him personally.<\/p>\n

Addressing Likud candidates as members voted, Golan remarked on X on Monday: \u201cNever have so many people vied for a place on the deck of the Titanic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Democrats and Likud are among the small number of Israeli parties that hold primaries.<\/p>\n

According to Hebrew media reports, the premier\u2019s push for reserved slots was based on concerns that the primary could elevate candidates who are highly popular among the Likud base <\/a>\u2014 including firebrand Likud MK Tally Gotliv<\/a> and ministers Shlomo Karhi and May Golan \u2014 but who internal party polling suggests are less appealing<\/a> to moderate right-wing and swing voters whose support could prove decisive in the upcoming national election. It was also reportedly motivated by Netanyahu\u2019s desire to settle scores<\/a> with internal critics such as Economy Minister Nir Barkat.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tLikud MK Ofir Katz (top left), Justice Minister Yariv Levin (top right), Likud MK Amit Halevi (bottom left) and Almog Cohen vote in Likud primaries at polling stations across the country, August 17, 2026. (Ofir Katz\u2019s office, Yariv Levin\u2019s office, Amit Halevi\u2019s office, Almog Cohen\u2019s office)<\/p>\n

Some candidates took to social media on Monday morning to make not-so-subtle last-minute appeals for votes. Many uploaded pictures of themselves casting ballots.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana\u2019s office said the candidate began the morning of the vote at synagogue, posting an image of himself praying with a handgun attached to his hip.<\/p>\n

Almog Cohen, a former Otzma Yehudit lawmaker who recently joined Likud, posted a picture of himself beside a memorial poster for Itzik Balti<\/a>, who was killed defending his neighborhood in Ofakim from Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tMinister Almog Cohen, a candidate in the Likud primary elections, is seen at a polling station in the southern Israeli city of Ofakim on August 17, 2026. (Liron Moldovan\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Cohen was allowed to run after Netanyahu approved a shorter cooling-off period than is usually required for moving between parties, paving the way for him to compete.<\/p>\n

Gotliv posted a video shortly after voting began of her playing with her daughter: \u201cMy daughter, the wonderful Orly, nearly 15, with low-functioning autism, senses my excitement on primary election day and bursts out of her routine to cheer me up.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u05ea\u05d5\u05d3\u05d4 \u05dc\u05d4\u05f3 \u05e2\u05dc \u05d4\u05e9\u05d9\u05e2\u05d5\u05e8\u05d9\u05dd \u05e9\u05dc \u05d7\u05d9\u05d9. \u05de\u05d9 \u05d9\u05ea\u05df \u05d5\u05d0\u05d4\u05d9\u05d4 \u05e8\u05d0\u05d5\u05d9\u05d4 \u05dc\u05d0\u05d4\u05d1\u05ea \u05d4\u05f3.
\u05ea\u05d5\u05d3\u05d4 \u05dc\u05db\u05dd \u05d1\u05d5\u05d7\u05e8\u05d9 \u05d4\u05dc\u05d9\u05db\u05d5\u05d3 \u05d4\u05d7\u05db\u05de\u05d9\u05dd \u05d5\u05d4\u05e0\u05d1\u05d5\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd \u05e9\u05dc\u05d9\u05d7\u05d9 \u05d0\u05de\u05ea \u05dc\u05de\u05e2\u05df \u05d4\u05e2\u05dd \u05d5\u05d4\u05d0\u05e8\u05e5.
\u05db\u05d4 \u05d9\u05d4\u05d0 \u05d4\u05f3 \u05d1\u05e2\u05d6\u05e8\u05d9 \u05d5\u05d1\u05e2\u05d6\u05e8\u05d9\u05e0\u05d5. pic.twitter.com\/XRDNl3A2PZ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 \u05d8\u05dc\u05d9 \u05d2\u05d5\u05d8\u05dc\u05d9\u05d1 (@TallyGotliv) August 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Gotliv is the most popular Likud candidate among party voters (though not necessarily registered members), according to a poll aired by Channel 12 news on Friday, followed by Ohana.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Transportation Minister Miri Regev, who has served as a Likud lawmaker since 2009, on Monday accused the El Al Workers Union of trying to \u201celiminate\u201d her due to her efforts to bring low-cost airlines to Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cEl Al today published a list to all their employees that they are going after me,\u201d she told 103FM radio, referring to a list published by the union of candidates they recommend in the primaries that excludes the minister.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd they don\u2019t intend to give me their vote. This is part of the blackmail and threats, trying to influence me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tA member of Likud party is pictured through a poster with an image of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at a polling station during primary elections of the party ahead of country\u2019s national elections, in Jerusalem on August 17, 2026. (ilia YEFIMOVICH\/AFP)<\/p>\n

Separately, the prime minister\u2019s son Yair Netanyahu urged members not to vote for Likud MK David Bitan, who has clashed with the premier, and expressed support for candidate Osnat Zohar Zini, in a post on X.<\/p>\n

Bitan led public dissent against Netanyahu\u2019s push to expand control over the Likud slate, arguing it would push incumbent lawmakers down the list in favor of handpicked apparatchiks who will feel beholden to the premier.<\/p>\n


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