Supreme Court rejects appeal over Likud regional slots, backs party court ruling

The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to intervene in a Likud party decision overturning a vote that allowed current MKs, ministers, and deputy ministers to vie for regional slots on the party's Knesset slate. Justices Daphne Barak Erez, Ofer Grosskopf, and Alex Stein dismissed an appeal filed by MK Afif Abed, who withdrew the petition after being informed the panel intended to reject it.

The justices questioned the necessity of the High Court of Justice hearing the internal party dispute, stating they will not intervene if the matter is resolved among themselves. Supreme Court Justices Daphne Barak Erez and Ofer Grosskopf both found no grounds for judicial intervention, emphasizing that the Likud movement's court is responsible for making decisions on such matters.

Attorney Guy Bussi, representing Abed, argued that the District Court had found the Likud court exceeded its authority, but Barak Erez disputed this interpretation, asserting that only one of the three grounds cited by the District Court was flawed. Grosskopf reiterated the high threshold for judicial intervention in internal party rulings, emphasizing the need for a special reason to intervene when the District Court accepted the flaws and overturned the decision.