Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Netanyahu Named Likud Leader Absent a Primary Challenger

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was declared the leader of Likud after the party canceled its primary due to the lack of a challenger.

The Feb. 23 vote was canceled Wednesday in response to a request by the party’s comptroller citing cost. Likud will save about $1 million by canceling the vote.

Though Netanyahu was the only candidate registered, the party’s central committee originally had agreed to hold the vote, providing a blank slip for voters.

The party moved up the primary from six months before the next election to the February date.

Netanyahu had said that the move will allow the party to be “ready for every scenario,” including early national elections. Early elections are likely, since the Likud-led government coalition has a majority of one seat. Critics said moving up the primaries would suppress opponents.

It will be Netanyahu’s seventh term as Likud leader.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.