Likud cancels primary, lets Netanyahu choose 6 candidates

The Likud's Constitution Committee has voted to cancel its primary ahead of the election in March. The committee voted on Wednesday not to hold an election for the Likud list in the upcoming election, for the third consecutive time. The last Likud primary was held in February 2019, in the first of the three consecutive elections in 2019-2020. The proposal the committee approved left the current slate mostly intact, except that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be allowed to appoint candidates to slots 5 or 10, plus 26, 28, 36, 39 and 40. Both Netanyahu and Likud Central Committee chairman Chaim Katz agree to the proposal, making it likely to pass in the committee as well as subsequent votes in the Likud secretariat, led by Finance Minister Israel Katz, and central committee. Netanyahu offered the fifth spot to former Health Ministry director-general Moshe Bar-Siman Tov, who is considering the offer, Channel 12 reported. Other possible candidates Netanyahu is considering for those spots on the Likud list are Modi'in Mayor Haim Bibas, Communal Strengthening and Empowerment Minister Orly Levy-Abecassis, Second Lebanon War hero Gal Hirsch and pro-Netanyahu lawyer and media figure Kinneret Barashi. Beersheba Mayor Rubik Danilovitch and Netanya Mayor Miriam Feirberg turned down offers from Netanyahu to run with the party, Channel 13 and Channel 12, respectively, reported. Among the reasons cited for canceling the primary was the difficulty in doing so safely in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yair Gabbay, a Likud member who sought to run in the primary, asked the Attorney-General's Office if there is a legal issue in holding the vote while coronavirus is still spreading. Deputy Attorney-General Raz Nizri responded that the party can legally conduct the election if it seeks to do so. However, Nizri said there is no requirement for Likud to do so. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein won the top spot in the February 2019 Likud primary, after Netanyahu, who was reelected as party leader last December. Next was Finance Minister Israel Katz, followed by Gilad Erdan – who has since been appointed Ambassador to the UN – and Gideon Sa'ar, who left Likud to form his own party. After that came Transportation Minister Miri Regev, Education Minister Yoav Gallant, Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin, MK Nir Barkat and Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel.

Likud cancels primary, lets Netanyahu choose 6 candidates

Netanyahu offered the fifth spot to former Health Ministry director-general Moshe Bar-Simantov, who is considering the offer, Channel 12 reported.

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Likud cancels primary, lets Netanyahu choose 6 candidates

Netanyahu offered the fifth spot to former Health Ministry director-general Moshe Bar-Simantov, who is considering the offer, Channel 12 reported.

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