Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to move forward with holding Likud primaries, according to a report by Kan News. Netanyahu is reportedly proceeding on the assumption that the party will approve his request to secure between eight and 10 reserved slots on the Likud Knesset list. However, Likud MK and Economics Committee Chairman David Bitan has not yet agreed to grant the prime minister the requested positions.
Earlier on Monday, Bitan addressed Netanyahu’s proposal in an interview, saying: “I know that Netanyahu told people he wants a selection committee; this is a very significant change in Likud."
Bitan argued that such a move would undermine the party’s democratic principles. “It contradicts the democratic principle in Likud," he said, adding that he had received messages suggesting he himself would be included on the proposed committee, but that he believes the party’s central committee would reject the initiative. According to Bitan, the entire party should oppose the change, saying that Likud’s strength comes from its internal democratic structure.
“Democracy is needed also in the selection of the people who are chosen democratically to manage the state," he said. “All parties that are not democratic, except for Liberman’s party, disappeared within eight years."
Bitan also discussed a petition he filed against changing the party’s election system just one month before the scheduled primaries. The petition argued that “it is not possible to deprive tens of thousands of party members of their right to choose their Knesset representatives a month before the primaries and change the rules of the game while the game is in progress."
The petition claimed that the proposed change would constitute a constitutional maneuver that harms Likud members’ rights to elect and be elected, and contradicts the party’s constitution and previous rulings by the party’s tribunal. During the interview, Bitan also addressed controversy in the Knesset plenum during the second round of voting for the State Comptroller, after Likud lawmakers were instructed to photograph their ballots behind the voting partition.
Bitan rejected claims that MKs were pressured, saying: “Why do I need to photograph myself? They wanted to show they had the right to photograph. It’s not because they told them to do it."
He added that those who photographed their ballots did so to demonstrate that they believed they were entitled to do so, and that it had been clear beforehand they would support candidate Michael Ravilo. Bitan also responded to criticism that Ravilo had previously represented Netanyahu, comparing the situation to judges who do not recuse themselves simply because they know one of the parties or lawyers involved in a case.
“He was the only one who submitted a candidacy. We needed to choose someone from among the candidates," Bitan said. “If someone else had submitted, maybe we would have voted for him. It’s not relevant."