Likud voting polls
Photo: Likud
Netanyahu wins battle for early Likud primaries
Likud delegates pass prime minister's motion to push up internal elections, in bid to thwart leadership challenge by Gideon Sa'ar.
Likud will hold early primaries on December 31, after early tallies showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's motion passed a party vote Wednesday night. The faction's delegates also approved Netanyahu's request to reserve the 11th and 24th positions on the electoral list.
Of the five polls which finished tallying the ballots, Netanyahu's proposal received a majority of the votes; with three poll locations left, it is unlikely the Likud leader's proposal will be rejected.
Some 2,300 party delegates filed their ballots, out of some 3,700 eligible voters. Netanyahu's proposal was seen by some party members as a response to the possibility that popular politician Gideon Sa'ar may challenge him for the leadership.
Likud delegates voting on early primaries (Photo: Likud)
Pushing up the primaries has been seen as a measure to thwart Sa'ar attempt to unseat Netanyahu. According to a Channel 10 poll published on Tuesday, Sa'ar would receive an equal number of seats as Netanyahu.
"Changing the rules of the game during a leadership challenge is unfair. The primaries' date was set for January 6 and there was no reason to change it," said Sa'ar on Wednesday morning.
Late on Tuesday night, the Likud's internal court received a petition against the secret ballot, but the petition was rejected early Wednesday morning. To conduct the secretive ballot, Netanyahu's supporters needed to present 380 signatures of party activists.
Delegates, however, claimed that not enough signatures were collected; the committee chairman, Danny Dannon, announced that the measure will be voted on and dismissed the convention.
