Likud primaries to be held on February 5

The Likud party will hold the primary for its electoral list to run in the April elections on February 5, party officials confirm.

The internal election, open to all paid-up members of the ruling party, will decide the order of candidates running for Knesset, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who automatically holds the first spot on the list.

Among those set to campaign for the Likud primaries is former minister Gideon Sa’ar, long seen as a challenger to Netanyahu. Sa’ar announced his political comeback in 2017 after a three-year break, saying his aim was to strengthen Likud.

Since then, Netanyahu has accused him of attempting a “putsch” against him and attempted to advance a bill that would that would restrict the president’s powers in picking a political leader to form a coalition after national elections, in a move widely seen as an attempt to stifle a potential rebellion led by Sa’ar.

A newcomer gunning to join the Likud party list is former Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat. Yoav Gallant, a minister in the coalition’s Kulanu party, is widely believed to be planning to defect to the Likud.

In an attempt to ensure some of his own preferred candidates make it onto the list, Netanyahu has asked the Likud Central Committee to reserve two places in realistic spots for him to appoint, Hadashot news reports.

— Raoul Wootliff