Tel Aviv, Aug. 17 -- Voting centres are set to open across Israel for roughly 140,000 members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party to vote on their candidate list for the upcoming national election. According to The Times of Israel, the contest is closely watched and could heavily dictate the nature of the next administration if the pro-Netanyahu bloc prevails in October.

While Likud has historically taken pride in its internal democratic process as one of the few parties choosing its roster via primary, modifications pushed by Netanyahu to restrict open slots have turned this year's contest into an extraordinarily competitive struggle for viable Knesset positions.

The Times of Israel notes that the primary, proceeding aft...