Ruling party Likud's Central Committee gathered Sunday evening to vote to approve a date for holding primary elections.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Likud Central Committee Chair MK Danny Danon decided Sunday that the primaries will be held on January 6.
On December 24, a vote will be held on changing the Likud constitution so that Netanyahu can personaly select some of the candidates on the list.
"The prime minister accepted my demand to safeguard the democracy of the Likud movement,” Danon said. “We will not be like other parties that forgot what democracy means. As I said and promised all my friends in Likud at the start of the process, underhanded opportunism will fail. We will not let anyone undermine the democracy of the movement, and the will of party members to influence what goes on.”