Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tuesday morning that he had decided to reserve a spot on the Likud slate for Elisha Medan, a reserve combat soldier and one of the founders of the community of Avigayil in the South Hebron Hills, who was critically wounded during operational activity in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. Four of his comrades were killed in the same incident, and Medan lost both legs. Ynet has learned that he is expected to be placed 11th on the slate.
“The long rehabilitation process Elisha underwent has become a symbol of strength, determination and faith in the power of life," the Likud party said in a statement. "Out of his severe injury and the heavy price he bore physically, Elisha chose to look forward, continue taking action, strengthen others and give hope to many Israelis. His personal story embodies the spirit of Israel’s fighters and the strength of Israeli society to withstand the most difficult tests, recover and continue building.”
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits seriously injured soldier Elisha Medan in the hospital
Medan lit a torch at the 2025 Independence Day ceremony. “Elisha Medan, who lit the torch of healing and rehabilitation and has received numerous honors for his actions and bravery, embodies values of dedication, responsibility, love of the land and camaraderie. His journey, from the battlefield through rehabilitation, is living testimony to the Israeli spirit,” the party said.
The deadline for submitting candidate lists to the Central Elections Committee is Tuesday at 10 p.m. On Monday, the Likud tribunal set Netanyahu a deadline, ordering him to publish his reserved slots on the slate by 9 p.m. that evening and warning that he risked a secret ballot in the Likud Secretariat.
Netanyahu appears intent on waiting until the last possible moment to reveal the remaining names and decisions. A Likud Secretariat meeting that had been scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday to approve the reserved spots has meanwhile been postponed until 2 p.m. Netanyahu, through attorney Ilan Bombach, Likud’s legal adviser, said he intended to submit his list of reserved candidates Tuesday morning, giving Secretariat members “a sufficient period of several hours” to review it.
Ahead of the final decision on the reserved slots, Netanyahu has already spoken with candidates, and one of them has even been filmed for the campaign — but her video has not yet been released because Netanyahu remains undecided.
Elisha Medan speaks at the 2025 Independence Day ceremony
(Photo: GPO)
Meanwhile, high-tech entrepreneur Oren Dobronsky, whom Netanyahu had offered a reserved spot in the top 10, announced overnight that he had decided not to run for the Knesset. He and the prime minister agreed that he would instead join the “Likud team” as a professional minister responsible for artificial intelligence.
Amid pressure on Netanyahu from senior ministers and from people close to him, including Sara Netanyahu and Yair Netanyahu, he is being urged to announce unmistakably right-wing reserved candidates. One argument repeatedly raised in the discussions is the possibility that if the blocs are tied there should be no candidate from Netanyahu’s own camp who might cross sides and give the opposing bloc the 61 seats needed for a majority.
Likud officials say Netanyahu had always intended, in keeping with his familiar working methods, to delay the announcements until the latest possible moment. But behind the scenes, the delay reflects not only his usual style but also the fact that he has so far failed to secure any name seen as a political “game changer.”