The Tel Aviv District Court on Monday rejected a petition challenging a Likud party court ruling that bars sitting Likud lawmakers from competing for district-reserved slots in the party primaries.

Last week, the Likud court accepted petitions against a proposal that had narrowly passed at the party convention about a week earlier. That proposal would have allowed current MKs, ministers and deputy ministers to compete in the district races.

The ruling is a setback for incumbent Likud lawmakers who supported Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reserved-slot proposal and had hoped to advance alongside it a mechanism that would give them an easier path through the district contests.

The district representatives in the Likud primaries will be eligible for spots 27, 28, 30 and 31 on the party list. Following the ruling, those positions will now be filled only by new faces.

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