Likud Primary Elections: Netanyahu's Push to End Democracy

For decades, Israel’s largest right-wing party("Ha-Likud"), prided itself on holding internal primary elections at all costs. The revelation that Benjamin Netanyahu is now seriously considering the cancellation of these primaries signals to voters that the preferred methodology has shifted to "I am the party."

In recent years, as Israel has cycled through successive Netanyahu governments with voters constantly gambling on their longevity, a sharp division has emerged among the modern electorate. Citizens are now split into two main camps: "Only Bibi"(In Hebrew: R"B Or Aka: Rak Bibi)) and "Anyone but Bibi"(In Hebrew: RL"B Or Aka: Rak Lo Bibi).

This dynamic has fostered a deep-rooted perception among "Likud" supporters that the party leader has actively worked to align the movement entirely with his own political principles. The goal appears to be embedding a specific mindset among supporters, opponents, and new voters alike: the leader and the party are one and the same.

Netanyahu in court in April this year (photo by Tomer Appelbaum / Flash90)

No More Mr. Nice Guy

While no official within Likud, including Netanyahu himself, will publicly confirm this trend, it has gained significant traction following troubling reports.

The long-standing Likud chairman is reportedly exerting heavy pressure on senior party figures, including Haim Katz and David Bitan, to agree to an initiative that would abolish primary elections and amend the Likud constitution. Under the proposed change, the identity of the chairman and the Knesset candidate list would be determined by a selection committee.

Beyond damaging the party’s public image, this move represents the democratic "time of death" for Likud as an institution with defined values independent of its leader.

It threatens to transform Likud into a framework mirroring its chief rival, "Yesh Atid", a party Netanyahu long criticized as a lifetime job placement service for Yair Lapid that could never be challenged. Privately, internal opponents of the prime minister argue that by pushing to cancel the primaries, Netanyahu is sending a clear message to potential party rebels: fall in line, or find yourself on the highway out of the Knesset.

Most Israeli political analysts assess that Netanyahu, who traditionally secures his objectives within his own party, will succeed in replacing the primary system with a selection committee where he holds unlimited influence over its composition. This would complete the long-term transformation of Likud from Israel's grand right-wing party into a one-man enterprise, leaving history as the only remaining judge of his actions. It appears that Netanyahu will not allow anyone else to do so.