Israel’s Likud Party has published the final vote counts for its primary, ahead of the country’s general election on October 27, with prime minister and Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu saying he was “very pleased” with the results.
Current energy and infrastructure minister Eli Cohen leads the list, followed by Amir Ohana, Yariv Levin, Miri Regev and Ofir Katz rounding out the top five spots.
The rankings do not include Netanyahu, who is automatically placed at the top of the party slate without needing to run.
Likud said 76,068 party members voted, a turnout of 53%. Cohen received more than 46,000 votes. This was less than at the 2022 primary when 58 per cent voted.
Likud is one of the only political parties in Israel to choose its candidates in this way, something it has long been proud of, but changes to the system this year have allowed Netanyahu to handpick eight candidates for the top 30 spots, while another place was allocated to the defence minister Israel Katz.
The party’s candidates are projected to win roughly 22 and 24 seats, according to opinion polls, compared to the 32 it currently holds.
“The new Likud list reflects renewal and the integration of new forces at the top of the list. Together with the secured slots that Prime Minister Netanyahu will appoint, which will strengthen the list even further, the Likud slate led by Netanyahu will lead to a great victory and the establishment of a broad national government immediately after the elections,” a Likud statement said.
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