Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has responded to the Likud party's internal tribunal, expressing frustration over demands to reveal the identities of party members receiving reserved slots on such short notice, while announcing his intention to publish the list without further delay.
In his response to the directive from Likud's internal court, Netanyahu indicated he would disclose which party figures he plans to grant protected positions on the party's electoral list. According to the statement issued on the Prime Minister's behalf in response to the tribunal's deadline: "The respondent intends to submit the list of those receiving reserved slots tomorrow morning, so that members of the secretariat will have sufficient time of several hours to review it."
Netanyahu's response protested the limited timeframe imposed by the party tribunal, stating: "The respondent reserves the right to complete arguments and submit supporting documents, given the exceptional and unreasonable time period granted to her." The response also challenged sharp language used by a tribunal member in the decision: "The respondent also objects to the harsh expression included in the decision regarding the undersigned. Substantive judicial criticism is of course legitimate, but this sharp personal expression was not necessary for the ruling, and it relates to a legal argument that the undersigned raised on behalf of the movement, with its knowledge and as part of his professional duty toward it. Under these circumstances, the statement could create an appearance of a preconceived position toward the respondent's counsel, precisely when he is required to appear before that same judge and respond within 115 minutes. Therefore, the tribunal is requested to delete the expression, or at minimum to clarify that it does not constitute personal defamation."
