The Likud Constitution Committee voted unanimously on Sunday to set party primaries for August 4, according to party sources. The decision, passed with all members in favor, finalizes the election date after weeks of internal debate over the party's candidate selection process.
The Likud Constitution Committee voted unanimously on Sunday evening to hold party primaries on August 4, party sources confirmed — formalizing a date that had been widely expected after a day of conflicting signals. The vote, with all members in favor, caps a months-long internal process over the party's candidate selection method.
As The Zioneer reported earlier Sunday (16:33 Jerusalem), Israeli media had already pegged August 4 as the likely date, after earlier speculation of August 8. The committee's unanimous approval now supersedes that earlier reporting, though the exact timeline had been in flux: as recently as June 24, journalist Dafna Liel reported that the committee was set to meet Sunday to debate primaries and reserved slots, following a series of postponed sessions since mid-June. The final decision suggests a compromise between Prime Minister Netanyahu's reported demand for 11 reserved slots (shiryonim) and committee chairman Haim Katz's push to hold primaries, as The Zioneer first reported on June 21.
The internal debate had been brewing for weeks. On June 17, Katz summoned the committee to meet the following Tuesday in an effort to force primaries, as The Zioneer reported. By June 21, the committee had delayed its primaries debate to Thursday amid legal shifts. On June 22, Likud MK David Bitan warned that canceling primaries would destroy the party within eight years.
What remains open is the resolution of the reserved-slot dispute: the earlier expectation, reported Sunday by journalist Amit Segal (N12), was that the number of shiryonim would be decided next month. The draft's own summary does not specify whether that decision has been made or if it remains pending.
4 developments
- StrongLikud constitution committee set to postpone primaries to early August; Netanyahu demands 11 reserved slots
- DevelopingLikud Constitution Committee delays primaries debate to Thursday amid legal shifts
- DevelopingLikud Constitution Committee to meet Sunday to discuss primaries and reserved slots
- DevelopingLikud hopeful files court petition demanding primaries regulations by July 2
Source and signal
- Internal intake