Likud primary vote count completed, with Eli Cohen taking top spot

The near-final Likud slate for the 2026 election, with silhouettes showing slots reserved for Benjamin Netanyahu's yet-to-be-named personal choices. Top left to bottom right: 1. Benjamin Netanyahu 2. Eli Cohen 3. Reserved 4. Israel Katz 5. Gideon Sa'ar 6. Amir Ohana 7. Yariv Levin 8. Miri Regev 9. Reserved 10. Ofir Katz 11. Oren Dobronsky 12. Yoav Kisch 13. Miki Zohar 14. Almog Cohen 15. Reserved 16. Amichai Chikli 17. David Amsalem 18. Haim Katz 19. Moshe Saada 20. Tally Gotliv 21. Shlomo Karhi 22. David Bitan 23. Boaz Bismuth 24. Nir Barkat 25. Gila Gamliel. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, Yonatan Sindel/Flash90, Ivan Burchak/iStock by Getty Images, Chaim Goldberg/Flash90, Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90, Yehoshua Yosef/Flash90, Courtesy Likud party, Miriam Alster/Flash90, Yossi Aloni/FLASH90, Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
The near-final Likud slate for the 2026 election, with silhouettes showing slots reserved for Benjamin Netanyahu's yet-to-be-named personal choices. Top left to bottom right: 1. Benjamin Netanyahu 2. Eli Cohen 3. Reserved 4. Israel Katz 5. Gideon Sa'ar 6. Amir Ohana 7. Yariv Levin 8. Miri Regev 9. Reserved 10. Ofir Katz 11. Oren Dobronsky 12. Yoav Kisch 13. Miki Zohar 14. Almog Cohen 15. Reserved 16. Amichai Chikli 17. David Amsalem 18. Haim Katz 19. Moshe Saada 20. Tally Gotliv 21. Shlomo Karhi 22. David Bitan 23. Boaz Bismuth 24. Nir Barkat 25. Gila Gamliel. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, Yonatan Sindel/Flash90, Ivan Burchak/iStock by Getty Images, Chaim Goldberg/Flash90, Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90, Yehoshua Yosef/Flash90, Courtesy Likud party, Miriam Alster/Flash90, Yossi Aloni/FLASH90, Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

The vote count for the Likud primary has been completed, with Energy Minister Eli Cohen taking first place.

Out of roughly 140,000 eligible members, Likud said 75,177 cast ballots — some 53.5%.

The top 16 candidates, who are likely to enter the next Knesset given Likud’s current polling performance, are as follows:

1. Eli Cohen
2. Amir Ohana
3. Yariv Levin
4. Miri Regev
5. Ofir Katz
6. Yoav Kisch
7. Miki Zohar
8. Almog Cohen
9. Amichai Chikli
10. David Amsalem
11. Moshe Saada
12. Tally Gotliv
13. Shlomo Karhi
14. Boaz Bismuth
15. David Bitan
16. Nir Barkat

The primary results will be used to form Likud’s Knesset slate, alongside politicians Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself is selecting in reserved places.

Our combo photo shows the apparently final top 25 on Likud’s Knesset slate, with silhouettes showing slots reserved for party leader Netanyahu’s yet-to-be-named personal choices.

In a statement, the party says Netanyahu is “very satisfied” with the results and declares it will claim a “big victory” in the October election.

“This is the only way to prevent a leftist government of Eisenkot, Yair Golan, Liberman, and the Arab parties.”

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