Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided Tuesday to reserve a place on the Likud Knesset slate for close ally and Channel 14 commentator Yaakov Bardugo, despite opposition from some figures in his inner circle, as he rushed to finalize the party list ahead of the evening filing deadline.
Bardugo joins a group of Netanyahu picks that includes Talik Gvili, mother of slain hostage Ran Gvili; Elisha Medan, a reserve soldier who lost both legs after being critically wounded in Gaza; attorney David Peter of the Kohelet Policy Forum; and retired Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi, founder of the Israel Defense and Security Forum. The updated slate also includes former Labor MK Eli Goldschmidt.
Clockwise from top left: Talik Gvili, Elisha Medan, Amir Avivi, Yaakov Bardugo, David Peter and Eli Goldschmidt
(Photo: Herzl Yosef, Shaare Zedek Medical Center Spokesperson’s Office, Yuval Chen, Moti Kimchi)
ynet has learned that Gvili is expected to be placed at No. 9 and Medan at No. 11.
Bardugo, a presenter on Channel 14 and Galei Israel radio and a longtime Netanyahu confidant, is expected to receive a slot allocated to Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope under its merger agreement with Likud. His exact placement has not yet been announced. Figures around Netanyahu have opposed the appointment and were still trying to prevent it, according to the report.
Netanyahu has eight reserved positions at Nos. 3, 5, 9, 11, 15, 18, 26 and 31, in addition to a separate reservation approved for Defense Minister Israel Katz. Two of the eight spots are designated for Sa’ar and another candidate chosen on his behalf.
Gvili became a prominent public figure during the campaign to return the hostages from Gaza. Her son Ran, a police counterterrorism officer, went out to fight on October 7 despite being wounded, was killed and his body was taken to Gaza. He was the last slain hostage returned from the Strip.
Medan was critically wounded during an IDF operation in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, where four of his comrades were killed. He lost both legs and later lit a torch at Israel’s 2025 Independence Day ceremony.
Peter, identified with the political right, has represented the government and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir before the High Court. Avivi, a retired brigadier general, heads the Israel Defense and Security Forum and has publicly backed Netanyahu’s security doctrine.
The final list must be submitted to the Central Elections Committee by 10 p.m. Tuesday. Likud’s secretariat meeting to approve Netanyahu’s reserved candidates, originally scheduled for 11 a.m., was postponed to 2 p.m.
The last-minute maneuvering follows tech entrepreneur Oren Dobronsky’s decision not to run for the Knesset despite being offered a top-10 slot. He instead reached an understanding with Netanyahu under which he could serve as a professional minister responsible for artificial intelligence in a future Likud-led government.
First published: 09:37, 09.08.26