Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won a resounding victory in the vote for the leadership of his Likud party on Friday, in a boost ahead of what is likely to be a hard-fought general election in March.
A Likud tally gave Netanyahu 72.5% of votes in Thursday's party ballot, against 27.5% for challenger Gideon Sa'ar, who conceded defeat, tweeting that he would now back the incumbent "for the sake of a Likud victory in the (general) election".