Netanyahu wins Likud party leadership vote

Initial results point to Mr Netanyahu winning a big majority in the poll of Likud members

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has won an election for the leadership of his right-wing Likud party.

Initials counts of 40% of ballots showed Mr Netanyahu winning 80% of the vote, a Likud spokesman told Reuters.
"I thank you all for the confidence and renewed support you have given me," Mr Netanyahu said in a speech in Tel Aviv.
Mr Netanyahu's rival, ultra-nationalist settler Moshe Feiglin, is expected to poll around 20%.
That is roughly what he polled against Mr Netanyahu in the last Likud leadership election in 2007.
Mr Feiglin nevertheless expressed satisfaction with the results.
"According to the results we are getting, we did something that was almost impossible…more than one quarter of registered Likud members voted for me and for a Jewish state," Mr Feiglin told the Israeli news site Ynet.com.
Some analysts say Mr Netanyahu's strong showing could lead him to hold an early general election, which is currently due to be held in late 2013.
Final results are expected later on Wednesday. About half of Likud's 125,000 members voted.
The opposition Kadima party is due to hold its leadership election in March.