Likud Party chairman Binyamin Netanyahu urged the 3,000 Central Committee members to approve the change - stripping them of the power to choose the party's MKs - in order to make the Likud a more democratic party. He stressed that the move would demonstrate to the country that the party now stands for accountability.
"The proposal I have put forward today is good for the Likud and also for all the parties," Netanyahu said. "I know that what I am asking of you is not simple. I know it is not easy. I know that many members have doubts, but I know that tonight you will display responsibility and will do the right thing for the Likud and for democracy and for the State of Israel."
The proposal was passed, largely because the party's court decided beforehand that the vote would be an open one. Many members had predicted that Netanyahu might lose in a secret ballot.
Netanyahu praised the Central Committee’s decision, saying the entire nation was waiting for a party to reject corruption and display accountability to the voters.
"I am proud that the Likud faction stood as one in its support of this important process," he said. "The goal is now as follows: To return to this nation leadership that it believes in, that strengthens it, and that will provide it with hope and not delusions; security and not weakness. I believe that we are standing at this moment at a turning point, and together we will leave here with our heads held high. We will go to the markets, the neighborhoods, the homes, and together we will go from door to door – not giving up on a single door."
National Union-NRP Chairman MK Benny Elon responded to the move by wishing Netanyahu success: "We hope to see a strong Prime Minister heading a large right-wing bloc. "The time has come, though, for a new ideological right. Technical changes are like small renovations inside a destroyed building. The Likud lacks faith and confidence in the justice of our path."
Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) Likud faction head Moshe Feiglin, whose Central Committee members all voted for the change, spoke about the significance of the decision on Israel National Radio's Yishai Fleisher and Alex Traiman show. "If you have joined the Likud as we have been asking people to do for the past five years, you can now not only vote for the head of the party, but for the entire Likud list," Feiglin said.
"You cannot decide who is going to be number 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. in the National Union or in any other party," he added, "but if you become a member of the Likud you have a tremendous influence, because now you will decide who will be number 1, number 2, number 3 and so on."
Asked how that translates into accountability, Feiglin said:
"What it means is that you have a representative in the parliament that thinks about you, personally, over time. When a Knesset Member of Likud votes or acts, he thinks about his constituency – who is going to vote for him. [Until] today, he could have cut all sorts of dirty deals and given out presents and jobs to get the committee members behind him. That’s all gone now. According to the way he behaves, how he votes and what he does – thus will his career be decided. It is a great improvement and makes the power of Manhigut Yehudit in the Likud much stronger as well, making it much easier for us to place our Knesset Members as well."
Click here to listen to the Feiglin interview on Israel National Radio