For reserved Likud slots, Netanyahu taps mother of former hostage and reservist who lost legs in war

Likud announces that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will use two of his remaining reserved slots on the party’s Knesset slate for Talik Gvili, the mother of slain police officer and former hostage Ran Gvili, and Elisha Madan, a reservist who lost both legs fighting in Gaza.

Madan, a founder of the West Bank settlement of Avigail in the South Hebron Hills, was injured in a 2024 blast from a booby-trapped tunnel shaft next to a mosque in the Beit Hanoun area in Gaza, which killed four soldiers.

Gvili is the mother of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, a police officer in the Yasam counter-terror unit, from Meitar, who was killed on October 7, 2023, while battling the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel. His body was taken captive to Gaza, and remained there for more than 800 days until it was located by the IDF and returned to Israel for burial. Ran was the very last Israeli captive held by terror groups in Gaza.

Netanyahu received eight slots on the Likud list for candidates of his choosing, in addition to a separate spot reserved for Defense Minister Israel Katz, giving him direct control over roughly a third of the realistic places on the slate as Likud polls at around 23 seats.

Before today, Netanyahu had announced three picks for his eight slots: Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Likud Central Committee chairman Haim Katz and entrepreneur Oren Dobronsky. Dobronsky, however, announced last night that he would not take his place on the slate, saying he instead intends to serve as a professional minister if Likud forms the next government.

With Gvili and Madan now set to join Sa’ar and Haim Katz among Netanyahu’s personal selections, the premier still has four reserved slots to fill ahead of tonight’s deadline for parties to submit their final candidate lists for the October 27 election.