Likud Holds Primaries for Party List for Next Knesset

YERUSHALAYIM
Ballot boxes for the Likud primaries, at a polling station in Tel Aviv. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

140,000 Likud members are eligible to vote on Wednesday in 110 voting sites across Israel to fill the party’s Knesset slate list, except for the top spot, held by veteran leader Binyamin Netanyahu.

Seventy candidates registered in the national roster list, and 40 other contenders will fight for the regional district slots as candidates fight for the top spots.

According to current polling, Likud is expected to gain in the range of 35 seats, to be the largest faction as it seeks to regain power after failing to form a government after the 2020 election.

The battle for the first five slots will be between senior Likud members and between other candidates who gained power and are considered to have strong support.

Former MK Miri Regev, a loyal ally of Netanyahu, hopes to keep her place at the top, despite reported deals with voters groups to send her to a lower position on the list.

Netanyahu’s challenge now is to present a list of candidates who will appeal to traditional constituents who may be less inclined to support some of the more outspoken members.

The voting will end at 9 p.m., followed by a manual counting of the votes, which may take a few hours.

Netanyahu hopes to get prestige and a stable list as much as possible, without candidates with criminal records or potential for desertion.

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