Likud’s Central Committee voted Monday night to approve a series of party rule changes backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, giving him a significant political victory ahead of the party’s upcoming primaries.

Approximately 3,400 of the party’s 4,500 committee members—about 73%—approved Netanyahu’s proposal to reserve eight spots on the Knesset candidate list for his appointments. Members also voted to reduce the number of electoral districts from ten to seven, moving district slots lower on the party list.

One of the closest votes approved a proposal by Minister Haim Katz allowing incumbent ministers and Knesset members to compete in district races, where the threshold for election is lower than in the nationwide primary. Several provisions passed by margins of just a handful of votes, prompting expectations of possible legal challenges.

Likud hailed the outcome, saying the strong turnout demonstrated broad grassroots support for Netanyahu’s proposals ahead of the next election.

The changes are expected to intensify competition in the party’s nationwide primary, with dozens of incumbent lawmakers expected to vie for a limited number of realistic spots on the Likud list.

The vote came after the party’s internal court rejected efforts to allow the cancellation of primaries during a national emergency, ruling that the elections should proceed as scheduled.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)