Netanyahu will not appeal Likud court ruling and will rely on MK's petition
The Prime Minister has decided not to file an appeal against the Likud court's decision to bar incumbent MKs from running in district primaries. Instead, he will support the petition of MK Afif Abd, who entered the Knesset following the resignation of Yoav Gallant and argues that his short tenure exempts him from the ruling's rationale regarding political advantages.
Knesset member Afif Abd (Likud) filed a petition today with the Tel Aviv District Court against the Likud party court's decision to bar incumbent Knesset members from running in the district primaries. According to Abd, the court "is not authorized to replace the will of the sovereign," referring to the Likud convention. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided not to file a separate petition on behalf of the party, opting instead to rely on Abd's appeal and present arguments as a party to the proceedings.
Abd entered the Knesset more than two years after the swearing-in, under the Norwegian Law, following the resignation of former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. He argues that the party court's ruling should not apply to him, as it "relies on the assumption that an incumbent Knesset member enjoys an inherent advantage stemming from a full term in the Knesset, public exposure, and political baggage."
"In practice, the court replaced an arrangement adopted by the Likud convention and determined that there is a better or more appropriate election system than the one that exists. From the moment it did so, it ceased to serve as a judicial body and became a normative body creating new law," Abd wrote in the petition.
The Likud party court accepted petitions against a clause approved by the convention last week, ruling that incumbent and former Knesset members, ministers, and deputy ministers cannot run in the districts during the primaries scheduled for August 17. The move was promoted by Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister Haim Katz, though it passed the convention by a slim margin.
The primary beneficiaries of this decision are new candidates who have never been elected before, as they will not have to compete against familiar Likud figures. District representatives in the primaries will secure spots 27, 28, 30, and 31: the 27th spot is allocated to the Shfela, Jerusalem, and Judea and Samaria district; the 28th to the Tel Aviv and Dan district; the 30th to the Galilee and Valleys; and the 31st to the Negev district.
