The Likud Supreme Court last night (Tuesday) overturned one of the central and dramatic decisions made by the Likud conference last week, ruling that Knesset members, ministers and deputy ministers - current and former - will not be able to run in the districts in the primaries.
In doing so, the court blocked the move promoted by Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu and the chairman of the movement's Constitution Committee, Minister Haim Katz, and which was approved at the conference by a majority of only five votes.
According to a report by Anna Barsky in Maariv, in addition to canceling the decision to open the districts to MKs and ministers, the court ruled that the 35th spot on the Likud list will be returned to the national list and will not be allocated to a woman, and that the deadline for submitting candidacies, changing the race route - between the national list, the districts and the guaranteed representation slots - as well as withdrawing from the race while receiving a full refund of the registration fee, will be extended by 48 hours.
On the other hand, the eight warrants granted to Netanyahu by the conference remain in effect.
Barsky emphasizes that the political significance of the decision is dramatic: Knesset members who sought to run in the districts as an alternative path to the crowded national list lost this option, while Netanyahu continues to hold eight shields that will allow him to shape the final list.
The decision was made by an expanded panel of five judges, after a marathon discussion that lasted about ten hours and ended near midnight.
