The Likud’s internal court has rejected a proposed provision that would have allowed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel the party’s primaries and establish an appointed committee if a security emergency made it impossible to hold the vote.

The ruling came ahead of Monday’s Likud convention, where approximately 5,000 members of the party’s Central Committee are expected to vote at 18 polling locations across Israel. Polls are scheduled to remain open from 11:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. The convention is expected to approve the primary system, together with eight reserved slots for Netanyahu and an additional reserved position for Gideon Sa’ar. The primaries are currently scheduled for August 17.

Some Likud members had expressed concern that Netanyahu was delaying the process and could use a potential escalation in the conflict between the United States and Iran to replace the primaries with an appointed selection committee, giving him greater control over the party’s candidate list.

However, officials who spoke with Netanyahu said he has no intention of abandoning the primaries and, on the contrary, prefers them over an appointed committee that could generate internal anger, resentment and political infighting ahead of the general election.

A senior Likud official told Walla that the approved proposal, which includes eight reserved slots, is an arrangement Netanyahu supports.

“There is no reason for the prime minister not to want primaries,” the official said. “Those disappointed by the results of primaries can blame themselves, the voters or the democratic system in which the voters did not choose them. Those disappointed by an appointed committee can become angry at the committee or the prime minister, build up resentment and harm the movement.”

The official added that primaries serve as an important political rehearsal before a national election by energizing party activists, reopening local branches and mobilizing the Likud’s grassroots organization.

The controversy was fueled by a provision stating that an appointed committee could be formed if a security situation prevented the primaries from taking place. According to the senior party official, the clause was intended only for an extreme emergency in which Home Front Command prohibited all public gatherings, similar to the conditions experienced during the 12-day war.

“A serious party must prepare for every scenario and every possibility,” the official said. “Nothing can be left unresolved. Only if there is a situation like the 12-day war, in which Home Front Command bans all gatherings and the country is in an emergency, would there be an opening for an appointed committee. As long as the security situation does not reach that point, there will be primaries.”

The Likud court, however, said it saw no justification for including such a clause in the party regulations.

“The proper path is the election of Likud candidates through primaries conducted among all party members, or among all members in the regional districts for the positions allocated to those districts,” the judges wrote. “There is no place to create in advance even a small opening for the cancellation of primaries. This is not the way of the Likud movement. The Likud is not a party of one man, and it will lose its vitality if it becomes one.”

The judges noted that the current regulations already allow the election committee, under exceptional circumstances, to change the date of the primaries. They said the ongoing national security emergency since October 7, as well as the possibility of further escalation, should be anticipated and addressed in advance through agreements with service providers and venue operators.

The court also said that even if current law does not permit electronic voting, preparing such an option would still be preferable to violating the party’s rules by failing to hold elections altogether.

“We believe the movement must exhaust every possibility for holding the primaries,” the judges wrote. “The constitution is the contract between the movement and its members, and between the members themselves.”

A significant number of lawmakers, candidates and their representatives are expected to register for the August 17 primaries.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)