Minister Eli Cohen, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and Minister Yariv Levin emerged as the top three finishers in the Likud primaries held on Monday, following the counting of 100% of the votes. The count was conducted at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv.
The rest of the top 10 were: Minister Miri Regev, Coalition Chairman Ofir Katz, Ministers Yoav Kisch and Miki Zohar, MK Almog Cohen, who moved from Otzma Yehudit to Likud, and Ministers Amichai Chikli and Dudi Amsalem.
In practice, the candidates who finished in the top 10 will be placed in positions 2 through 17 on the party list, due to the unprecedented number of reserved slots allocated to party chairman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—nine reserved slots among the first 30 positions on the list.
In the second tier of the list, which will in practice be placed in positions 19 through 35, the candidates elected were: MK Moshe Saada, MK Tali Gottlieb, Minister Shlomo Karhi, Economic Affairs Committee Chairman David Bitan, and Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Boaz Bismuth.
They were followed, in positions 23 and onward, where their chances of securing realistic positions are questionable, by Ministers Nir Barkat and Zeev Elkin, who joined Likud; Minister Gila Gamliel, who will be moved up to position 25 on the list due to the guaranteed representation slot for women; MK Amit Halevi; and MK Avichai Buaron, who will in practice be pushed down to position 38 due to the guaranteed representation slot for women.
This year’s primaries were particularly dramatic. Due to the reserved slots that Likud’s central committee approved for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the party list, compared with positions 2–4 in the past, only around half of the party’s current ministers and MKs (19 out of 39) will be able to secure a place among the first 30 positions on the list, which a Channel 12 poll projected would win just 22 seats.
The remaining positions will be allocated to Netanyahu’s nine reserved slots. Two of his reserved slots have already been given to sitting ministers from the party, Israel Katz and Haim Katz, as well as another slot for Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who moved from New Hope to Likud, and businessman Oren Dobronsky. The remaining positions will go to new candidates from the party’s districts, who have been pushed further down the list compared with their traditional positions.
However, if Likud is part of the next government, additional MKs could enter the Knesset beyond the number of seats won by the party, under the Norwegian Law. The Norwegian Law allows ministers or deputy ministers to resign from the Knesset and, upon resigning, return to the Knesset. Upon their resignation, the next member on the party’s list enters the Knesset.
In the third tier and below, which will certainly be placed in non-realistic positions (from position 38 onward), there are three sitting ministers—May Golan, Idit Silman and Avi Dichter—and six additional sitting MKs.
The candidates in the tier, in order, are: MK Eti Atiya, who will be moved up to position 35 on the list due to the guaranteed representation slot for women; Finance Committee Chairman Hanoch Milwidsky; Minister May Golan; MK Keti Shitrit; Minister Idit Silman; MK Ariel Kallner; Minister Avi Dichter; MKs Shashi Guetta and Shalom Danino; and right-wing activist Shay Kahl. MK Nissim Vaturi was pushed down to the fourth tier, taking position 33.
The primaries were held at 112 polling stations across the country. The final turnout was 53.5%, with 75,177 members voting—a decline compared with the 2022 primaries, when overall turnout stood at 58%, with 79,750 party members casting ballots.