Netanyahu Wins Party Vote in Boost Ahead of Israeli Election

Netanyahu Wins Party Vote in Boost Ahead of Israeli Election
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, on April 14, 2019. Ronen Zvulun/Pool via AP
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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.

A Likud tally gave Netanyahu 72.5 percent of votes in Thursday’s party ballot, against 27.5 percent for challenger Gideon Saar, who conceded defeat, tweeting that he would now back the incumbent “for the sake of a Likud victory in the (general) election.”