Likud central committee power test for Netanyahu: Central committee members will vote tomorrow (Thursday) on the resolution proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister Haim Katz that was approved mid-week by the Likud constitution committee: 8 personal reservations for Netanyahu (3 reservations in the top ten and 3 reservations in the second ten) and a change to the Likud primaries bylaws. According to the proposal, the reserved spots for Netanyahu up to place 31 on the list are: 3, 5, 9, 11, 15, 18, 26 and 31.

Because the vote itself will be secret this amounts to a leadership test for Netanyahu. In practice, Likud central committee members are required to vote against their own political interest since Netanyahu receives personal reservations on the list at the expense of new candidates who want to run for the Knesset. The assessment is that if the vote were open Netanyahu would win by a large majority. Since it is a secret ballot there is risk for Netanyahu. Approximately 4,500 Likud central committee members are expected to vote at 18 polling sites from Tiberias to Eilat. The vote will take place between 12 noon and 6 pm. Results are expected to be published in the evening hours.

On Monday the constitution committee decided to accept almost in full Netanyahu's proposal for personal reservations in significant places on the list. Netanyahu demanded 10-11 reservations but ultimately it was decided to give him 8 reservations. After the decision was approved by the Likud constitution committee it emerged that behind the scenes a deal had been struck between Netanyahu and Minister Katz, who also serves as chairman of the Likud constitution committee and chairman of the party central committee: Katz would support and work to approve Netanyahu's proposal and would himself receive a reservation on the list instead of running in the primaries. Katz also secured a spot for his associate MK Eti Attiya when the new primaries bylaws would allow incumbent MKs to run in the slot reserved for districts, intended for new candidates who are not Knesset members.

Likud officials claimed that shortly before the constitution committee meeting Minister Katz and Economy Committee chairman MK David Bitan reached an agreement on a joint proposal between the two for selecting the Likud Knesset list. According to the sources, at the last moment Netanyahu succeeded in breaking the deal between Katz and Bitan and secured most of his demands. "Katz already had an agreement with Bitan, but at the last moment he pulled the wool over his eyes and went for a deal with Netanyahu that also includes a personal reservation for himself," said a senior Likud figure.

MK Bitan himself released a video today in which he called not to support the Netanyahu-Katz proposal but instead to allow broad primaries in the party with a smaller number of reservations for Netanyahu. Bitan claimed that the prime minister's proposal is not Netanyahu's proposal but rather Minister Katz's. "The prime minister unfortunately had to yield to Haim Katz because he is chairman of the constitution committee," Bitan said.

According to him, "This is a constitution committee elected about 15 years ago and does not represent Likud members and central committee members. Haim Katz exploited his position to influence the prime minister to accept his proposal." Bitan claimed that Netanyahu's reservations drive away voters: "The reservations the prime minister is requesting will not benefit Likud but some will benefit other parties. This is not what will raise the list. This will bring it down. Since we started talking about the reservations Likud has been dropping and dropping in the polls."