Netanyahu wins Likud race, eyes top job

Benjamin Netanyahu, fresh off a commanding election win as leader of Israel's hardline Likud Party, vowed yesterday to shift his efforts toward reclaiming his old job as prime minister.
Netanyahu faced a relatively strong challenge from Moshe Feiglin, a radical West Bank settler, whose performance in Tuesday's primary could help shore up the extreme right wing of the party and hurt Netanyahu's efforts to rehabilitate Likud after it was battered in national elections last year.
Recent polls have crowned Netanyahu, Likud's leader since late 2005, as the front-runner for Israel's top job.
Netanyahu captured 73 percent of the vote to Feiglin's 23 percent, according to final results party officials released early Wednesday. A third candidate, Danny Danon, trailed with 3.5 percent.
Netanyahu's victory was a foregone conclusion after he announced the elections on short notice.