Likud ministers back Netanyahu's reserved slots as party holds primaries

Likud ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government backed the premier’s eight reserved slots in the party's list that he would fill at the Likud primaries on Monday, while also characterizing the event as a celebration of the party’s democratic nature.

"We need to build a good team beside and behind Prime Minister Netanyahu," Agriculture and Food Security Minister Avi Dichter told The Jerusalem Post at the International Convention Center (ICC) polling station in Jerusalem.

The reserved spots have created tensions in recent weeks as they represent a significant proportion of the 22 seats the Likud is projected to win in the upcoming elections in October. Should that projection hold, it would mean that only 14 seats on the Likud’s list in the Knesset would be filled by members elected by registered Likud voters.

Even that, though, would be unique in Israeli politics, as the Likud is one of only a handful of parties to hold primaries, and the only party to allow all its registered members to cast a vote.

Dichter and other ministers in the Likud party spoke to the Post at the ICC as they headed to cast their ballots. Approximately 140,000 registered Likud members around Israel were eligible to cast votes for candidates at polling stations around the country.

Ministers defend Netanyahu’s reserved slots

Dichter continued, stating that this year’s primaries had generated a different level of enthusiasm, with turnout among members appearing “higher and stronger,” and voters arriving with “a wide smile on their face.”

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi also defended Netanyahu’s reserved slots, stating that they “are nothing new. They existed last time as well.”

“There are a few more now,” he admitted, “but they allow the prime minister, who has to coordinate the entire system, including alliances between parties and preserving the bloc, to continue leading Likud to victory.”

Additionally, Karhi argued that the primaries were still democratic, noting that “beyond the reserved slots, which are something the prime minister needs to be given the ability to use, everyone else competes in the primaries.”

“It’s a celebration of democracy,” he added.

Likud ministers call primaries a celebration of democracy

Transportation Minister Miri Regev also defended the democratic nature of the primaries, echoing Karhi's characterization of the event. While also calling it a “celebration of democracy,” she indicated that Netanyahu’s reserved slots were less democratic.

“There's no doubt that with the reserved slots, half of the list is democratic, and half of the list consists of reserved slots.”

Culture Minister Miki Zohar also told the Post that he supported Netanyahu “all the way” and was not bothered by the reserved slots that were up to the prime minister’s discretion to fill.

He also said, regarding lower recent polling that shows the Likud receiving approximately 22 seats rather than the 32 seats that the party currently has in the Knesset, that he  believed “by the elections, the results will be different.”