A vote planned for Wednesday by the 4,500-member Likud Central Committee on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to dramatically expand his control over the party’s Knesset slate was called off at the last minute, after the Lod District Court issued an injunction halting the process until all party members, not just the committee members, are allowed to participate in the vote.

Under the plan, approved by the party’s Constitution Committee earlier this week, Netanyahu would be granted eight reserved slots for candidates of his choice on the Likud list, including three in the top 10 and six in the top 20, as part of a compromise with committee chair and veteran Likud MK Haim Katz.

According to Ynet, Katz himself has been promised one of Netanyahu’s reserved spots if the proposal is accepted by the Likud Central Committee. Another will reportedly go to Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, formerly a fierce rival of the prime minister.

The proposal has divided the party, with senior Likud MK David Bitan leading the opposition, as the plan would significantly increase the prime minister’s power over the slate. During the party’s last round of primaries in 2022, Netanyahu was allowed to handpick only three candidates among the top 30 spots on the list, with the highest being 14th.

The primaries ahead of this year’s October 27 election have already been postponed once, from August 4 until August 17, amid the ongoing dispute.

Polls have projected that Likud’s number of mandates after the elections on October 27, will be in the low to mid-20s, out........

© The Times of Israel