Likud to Grant Reserved List Spots to Sa'ar, Israel Katz, and Haim Katz

The Likud party announced that Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and Central Committee chair Haim Katz will be granted guaranteed spots on the party's electoral list. These placements are in addition to eight reserved slots set aside for candidates chosen by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The decision will be brought to the Likud secretariat for approval on Tuesday.

Likud justified the reserved spots by stating that Israel Katz needs to focus on security needs rather than politics and was already expected to place high on the list. Gideon Sa'ar's spot is part of a merger agreement between his New Hope party and Likud, while Haim Katz's spot is attributed to his role as central committee chair. Additionally, Netanyahu's first reserved candidate was announced as entrepreneur Oren Dobronsky, who is expected to lead efforts in artificial intelligence for the public and private sectors.

Outlets with a center lean framed the move as an expansion of the Prime Minister's control, noting that 11 of the first 29 spaces would be hand picked rather than elected by party members. This perspective highlights that the move could cause anger within the party and reduces the number of positions available through the primary process. In contrast, outlets with a center right lean framed the event as a standard administrative placement of key ministers and party officials on the election list.