PM said to weigh giving reserved spot to Dichter after poor primary showing

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering appointing Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter to one of the reserved spots on the Likud electoral list recently given him to fill by the party’s Central Committee last month.

According to the Kan public broadcaster, Netanyahu is mulling the move after Dichter, whom he backed, failed to secure a realistic spot in Monday’s party primary, although he does not want to use up one of his reserved spots at the expense of bringing in an outsider, such as, potentially, Religious Zionism chairman Bezalel Smotrich.

“After we placed our trust in your desire to refresh the Likud list with eight reserved spots, it turns out that alongside Haim Katz, who received an exemption from the primaries, you intend to reserve a spot for Avi Dichter, who failed in the primaries,” writes firebrand MK Tally Gotliv in a harsh post on X addressing Netanyahu.

Accusing Netanyahu of ignoring the will of the party’s members, Gotliv insists that Netanyahu should at least put those who failed in the primary in reserved spots lower on the list and calls on him to give more positions to women in order not to “play into the hands of the left with a campaign about the exclusion of women in Likud.”

The prime minister’s push to secure the reserved spots was reportedly based on concerns that the primary would elevate candidates, such as Gotliv, who are highly popular among the Likud base, but whom internal party polling suggests are less appealing to moderate right-wing and swing voters.

Gotliv ended up finishing in 12th place in the primary, with Netanyahu’s control of reserved slots likely pushing her down to slot 19 on the final list.