JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu easily won a vote to keep the Likud party helm, the party said on Friday, in a boost ahead of what is likely to be a hard-fought general election in March. Netanyahu won 72.5% of votes in Thursday's party ballot, against 27.5% for challenger Gideon Saar, who conceded, tweeting that he would now back the incumbent "for the sake of a Likud victory in the (general) election". The challenge by Saar, a former education and interior minister, had added to pressures on the four-term premier, who is under indictment and fighting for political survival. Netanyahu declared victory in a speech at Likud's campaign headquarters near Tel Aviv, telling supporters: "The future is in our hands".

Source: International New York Times December 27, 2019 05:29 UTC