Netanyahu
NetanyahuOren Ben Hakun - Israel Hayom

The Tel Aviv District Court on Tuesday night barred one of the most controversial candidates in Israel from running for a spot on the Likud party's list, a candidate who was opposed by Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu.

David Laniado, who has been convicted of multiple felonies, was barred from competing just hours before the Likud primaries were set to begin.

According to a report by Anna Berski in Maariv, members of party chairman Benjamin Netanyahu's inner circle had suggested to the former prime minister that if the candidate was elected to fill the party's 38th place, reserved for a representative of the Tel Aviv district, he not activate the "Norwegian Law" which allows cabinet members to resign from the Knesset and give their seat to another member of the party's list. Not activating the law would have prevented Laniado from sitting in the Knesset if he secured the spot on the Likud list unless the Likud won 38 seats.

Today the Likud's legal advisor submitted a request to the Tel Aviv district court to disqualify Laniado's candidacy in the party's primaries.

in a tweet this morning, Netanyahu called on members of his party not to vote for Laniado: "I call on Likud members not to vote for Dudu Laniado and instead to vote for other and more worthy candidates whose election won't cause damage to the Likud".

Laniado was convicted on charges of trespassing in 2011, and last week it became known that he hid past convictions, and that in 2010 he was sentenced to house arrest for assaulting a woman. The election committee disqualified his candidacy.