Netanyahu Easily Wins Likud Party Primary To Remain Prime Minister Candidate
Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has won his party’s leadership primary with 71.5 percent of the vote, according to an exit poll.
A tweet by Direct Polls, an Israeli firm, showed challenger Gideon Saar with 28.5 percent.The poll had a margin of error of 3.2 percent, and turnout for the primary stood at around 50 percent.
אחרי הדיוק המושלם במדגם הבחירות לראשות מפלגת העבודה בשנה האחרונה, נכנסים שוב לשדה המוקשים המפלגתי, והפעם עם מדגם הבחירות לראשות תנועת הליכוד, עם 758 נדגמים ייחודיים וסטיית תקן של 3.2%. המדגם נכון לשעה 22:00. להלן התוצאות שלנו >>>@netanyahu @gidonsaar pic.twitter.com/WFLTPwO6o1
— Direct Polls (@Direct_Polls) December 26, 2019
Saar, a popular Likud stalwart and former interior minister, had aimed to dethrone Netanyahu after the prime minister was twice unable to form a government following consecutive rounds of elections this year. Netanyahu’s rival, Benny Gantz of the centrist Blue and White Party, was also unable to assemble a governing coalition.
Netanyahu is also under indictment for fraud, bribery and breach of trust. He has been his right-wing party’s leader for a total of 20 years, including the past 14 years.
Israel will hold its third round of elections in less than a year on March 2.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO