Likud to decide on primaries for MKs today

“They are trying to take away the right to vote from a massive amount of members,” Sa’ar told the press at Likud headquarters. “We will fight for elections that will be fair and democratic.”

By GIL HOFFMAN
Likud MK Gideon Sa'ar speaks at The Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference;Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, November 24, 2019 (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST/ SEBASTIAN SCHEINER/POOL VIA REUTERS)
Likud MK Gideon Sa'ar speaks at The Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference;Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, November 24, 2019
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST/ SEBASTIAN SCHEINER/POOL VIA REUTERS)
A Likud internal court is expected to decide on Thursday morning that the party must hold primaries for its Knesset candidates or change the party’s constitution to avoid such a race.
The Likud central committee already decided last week to keep the same list for the March 2 election that ran in the September 17 race. But a hearing was held on Tuesday in the internal court on a petition that said the committee’s decision was illegal.
The head of the internal court, former MK Michael Kleiner said two thirds of the central committee members who attend the next meeting will have to vote to change the party’s constitution.
Channel 12 reported on Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might want to hold a primary for the list in order to take revenge against the MKs who endorsed MK Gideon Sa’ar in the Likud leadership race and prevent them from entering the next Knesset.
Kleiner denied the report, saying “no one wants another race for the Knesset list, and there is not enough time” by the January 15 deadline to submit Knesset lists to the Central Elections Committee.
Sa’ar formally filed the forms necessary to run for the Likud leadership at the party’s Tel Aviv headquarters on Wednesday, vowing to prevent the party from expelling thousands of Likud members.
The administration of the Likud, which is loyal to Netanyahu, has removed thousands of members ahead of the December 26 primary, with 100 told that their membership will be removed pending a hearing. Sa’ar also complained of a decision to limit where the members will be allowed to vote.
“They are trying to take away the right to vote from a massive amount of members,” Sa’ar told the press at Likud headquarters. “We will fight for elections that will be fair and democratic.”
He said there had been an agreement to enable Likud members to vote at any polling station. He said this was especially important, because the election will take place during Hanukkah, when children are off from school and many families take vacations inside the country.
But since then, the party announced that members could only vote close to their homes. Sa’ar noted that in the last Likud primary for the party’s list, a fourth of the voters cast ballots at polling stations that were not at their local Likud branch.
“This would prevent another massive of amount of members from voting,” Sa’ar lamented. 
Netanyahu’s spokesman Yonatan Urich released a statement on Tuesday confirming that thousands of Likud members have been removed from the membership rolls but outlining how many of them had not paid dues, moved to another party or died.