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Senior Likud officials accuse Netanyahu of causing chaos to avoid primaries, demand 10 reserved slots

The Zioneer Intelligence Desk
Senior Likud officials accuse Netanyahu of causing chaos to avoid primaries, demand 10 reserved slots

Primary source Internal intake · 1 reviewed intake signal · Desk window 08:04

TL;DR

Senior Likud figures told Yedioth Ahronoth that Prime Minister Netanyahu is deliberately creating chaos to prevent the party from organizing primaries, aiming to secure an 'arranging committee' that would give him control over the list. They detailed his demand for 10 reserved slots: five in the top ten, three in the second ten, and two in the third ten, according to the report.

01 · THE DISPATCH

Senior Likud officials have told Yedioth Ahronoth that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is deliberately creating chaos within the party to prevent the holding of primaries, aiming to force an 'arranging committee' that would give him control of the Knesset list. According to the report, the officials detailed Netanyahu's specific demand for 10 reserved slots: five in the top ten positions (including the first slot, and numbers 2, 4, 6, 8), three in the second ten (11, 15, 18), and two in the third ten (22, 29). The demand is described as unprecedented and would effectively bypass the primary process.

The Zioneer has extensively covered the ongoing Likud power struggle over the past several weeks. On June 22, the desk reported that Likud infighting intensified over Netanyahu's demand for 10 reserved slots. The following day, Netanyahu threatened to quit the party unless his demand was met. On July 1, a compromise proposal would have integrated rebel MKs into the list while reserving slots up to #25 for Netanyahu loyalists, but no agreement was reached.

The latest report, attributed to anonymous senior party figures, marks a sharp escalation in rhetoric, accusing the prime minister of deliberately undermining party democracy. The report is based on a single source and has not been independently corroborated.

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This dispatch is published under The Zioneer Intelligence Desk. Raw intake channels remain internal provenance; an external outlet or channel is named only when it materially helps readers evaluate a specific claim.