Likud to hold first national conference in almost 14 years to elect Central Committee

Ruling party’s powerful organ picks many of its candidates for Knesset elections, as well as members of high-level Secretariat; votes to be held due to intense internal pressure

By Ariela Karmel

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24 November 2025, 11:50 pm

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, with his wife and Likud party MKs at a Likud Central Committee gathering, toast the Jewish new year in Tel Aviv, September 6, 2018. (Gili Yaari/FLASH90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party was set on Tuesday for the first time in almost 14 years to host its national conference to elect the party’s powerful Central Committee.

Elections have not been held since the last conference in January 2012.

The Central Committee, which has approximately 4,500 members, is led by Tourism Minister Haim Katz. It serves as the party’s main representative body, responsible for approving major policy decisions and internal rules. Its members are selected by local Likud branches around the country.

It, in turn, elects the party’s 50-member Secretariat, currently led by Defense Minister Israel Katz, which acts as the party’s executive body responsible for party operations, including staff, budget, regional offices, campaigns, and selecting candidates for the party’s Knesset slate in certain reserved slots.

While the new members of the Central Committee will be picked on Tuesday, the heads of the Central Committee, as well as the Secretariat members and head, will be selected via a 90-day voting period.

The party’s highly centralized structure meant that neither the leadership nor those holding key positions were required over the years to renew their mandates, reducing any incentive to convene a conference.

Illustrative: Members of the Likud Central Committee vote in Tel Aviv in 2013. (Yossi Zeliger/Flash90/File)

However, mounting internal pressure and growing demands from within the party compelled its leadership to finally call one.

Other Likud ministers are now challenging the two longtime officials for the powerful posts. Energy Minister Eli Cohen and Culture Minister Miki Zohar are running against Israel Katz, according to Hebrew media reports, while Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem is challenging Haim Katz.

The two bodies shape the party’s leadership and internal strategic direction, making their elections highly consequential for Likud’s internal balance of power, with their chairs ranking among the party’s most powerful figures.

The Central Committee members are also, according to Likud’s rules, the only ones voting in the Likud primaries for slots reserved for new candidates in various districts — roughly a third of the spots on the electoral slate for Knesset elections. This incentivizes candidates to keep in close touch with the members and attend their personal events, in the hopes of securing their votes in the primaries or deals with other candidates.

Primaries are expected to be held in the coming months, since the next Knesset elections must be held in October 2026 at the latest.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.