The ruling Likud party’s top court on Tuesday overturned a measure that allowed sitting and former Knesset members, ministers and deputy ministers to compete for slots reserved for regional districts in the upcoming August 17 primaries, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempt to satisfy his lawmakers by giving them a greater chance at political survival.

For decades, Likud’s reserved spots for districts have only been available for new MKs, acting as a diversifying tool that gives a chance for new figures to make it into the Knesset.

But amid opinion polls that consistently show Likud getting around 22-24 seats in the October 27 election, significantly down from its current 32, Netanyahu heavily campaigned for the Likud Central Committee to approve a change letting current and former lawmakers, ministers and deputy ministers to vie for those spots.

Last week, Likud’s roughly 4,500-member Central Committee approved the proposal by a majority of only five votes, immediately prompting petitions to the party’s internal tribunal, including by MKs Eliyahu Revivo and David Bitan.

Party members also voted last week in favor of a measure to significantly expand Netanyahu’s control over the party’s Knesset slate, granting him eight reserved slots in the top 29 places on the list ahead of the October 27 election.

That motion passed despite rare public dissent from within Likud, led by Bitan, who argued it would push incumbent lawmakers down the list in favor of Netanyahu’s handpicked candidates.

The premier’s push for reserved slots was based in part on concerns that primaries could elevate candidates who are highly popular among the Likud base — including MK Tally Gotliv and ministers Shlomo Karhi and May Golan — but who internal party polling suggests are less appealing to moderate right-wing and swing voters whose support could prove decisive in the upcoming national election.

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© The Times of Israel