Netanyahu again delays meeting to determine Likud primaries plan

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has for the fourth time postponed a scheduled meeting with Likud’s Constitution Committee chairman, Minister Haim Katz, to determine how the party’s primaries will be conducted, Channel 12 reports.

The meeting, planned for this evening, has now been pushed off until tomorrow, though it remains unclear whether a decision will be reached then, according to the Hebrew network.

Likud sources tell Channel 12 that Netanyahu delayed the meeting in the hope of allowing the coalition to complete a raft of end-of-session legislation before the Knesset adjourns on Friday, by avoiding a scenario in which disgruntled Likud lawmakers boycott or abstain from key votes over the party’s decided election method.

Some Likud backbenchers are concerned that the longer the Constitution Committee goes without convening to launch the primary process, the more likely it is that Netanyahu will instead push for an internal candidate selection committee, which would effectively give him the power to handpick candidates for the party slate and risk them losing their seats.