Dramatic Hours in Likud Come to an End: Threat to Primaries Removed

MK Afif Amin Abed withdrew his appeal to the Supreme Court after judges indicated they were not inclined to intervene in the Likud court's decision. This means current and former MKs will not run in districts, and the primaries can proceed as scheduled on August 17. The Social Forum alongside the National Histadrut saw this as a victory for opening the list to new forces.

The Likud primaries will be able to take place on schedule after MK Afif Amin Abed withdrew his appeal to the Supreme Court. The hearing took place at 21:00, following a day of unusual legal developments and heavy pressure within Likud. The Supreme Court judges clarified that they were not inclined to intervene in the Likud court's decision, which determined that current and former MKs could not run in districts. Following the withdrawal of the appeal, the decision remains in effect, and Likud can continue preparations for holding the elections on August 17. The Social Forum alongside the National Histadrut, which was among the factors that acted against the possibility of MKs running in districts, presented the conclusion of the process as a victory in the struggle to open the list to new forces. Earlier, the Likud movement asked the Supreme Court to decide on the appeal urgently, due to concerns that any delay would jeopardize the primaries. The company managing the election system warned that without a decision, it would be impossible to proceed with printing over half a million voting materials and preparing over 100 polling stations. Delaying the primaries would require re-recruiting about 2,000 workers and finding new polling stations, and could have postponed the vote by at least two weeks, at an additional cost of over 5.5 million shekels.