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.”
The results awaited official confirmation by Israel’s Elections Committee.
The challenge by Saar, a former education and interior minister, had added to pressures that have mounted this year on the four-term premier, who is under indictment and fighting for political survival.
In November, Netanyahu was charged with corruption in three criminal cases and he has twice failed to form a government in the wake of two inconclusive national ballots, held in April and September.
Netanyahu’s centrist rival in those elections, Benny Gantz of the Blue and White party, was also unable to form a coalition government, leading to political deadlock and an unprecedented third election on March 2.
Netanyahu has cast the legal case against him as a political witch-hunt orchestrated by the media and an Israeli left hoping to oust him.
Though the troubles of “King Bibi,” as he is nicknamed by his fans, do not seem to have dented the loyalty Netanyahu commands among his supporters, some Likud members have said it is time for fresh leadership.
Netanyahu had played down Saar’s challenge, talking up his own security credentials and international prowess.
Thanking supporters for the “huge” Likud leadership victory, Netanyahu tweeted that he would “continue leading the State of Israel to unprecedented achievements.”
Benjamin Netanyahu wins party vote in boost ahead of Israeli election
https://arab.news/bscak
Benjamin Netanyahu wins party vote in boost ahead of Israeli election
- A Likud tally gave Benjamin Netanyahu 72.5 percent of votes in Thursday’s party ballot
- In November, Netanyahu was charged with corruption in three criminal cases
Sirens heard at Incirlik air base, key NATO facility in south Turkiye: state news agency
- Key NATO facility where US troops are stationed near the southeastern city of Adana
ANKARA: Sirens were heard early on Friday at Turkiye’s Incirlik air base, a key NATO facility where US troops are stationed near the southeastern city of Adana, state news agency Anadolu reported.
There was no immediate official comment on the incident, which took place four days after NATO air defenses shot down a ballistic missile in Turkish airspace that was fired from Iran, the second in five days.
Residents of Adana, which lies 10 kilometers away from the base, were woken at around 3:25 a.m. (0025 GMT) by sirens, which sounded for around five minutes, according to the Ekonomim business news website.
It said a red alert sounded at the base.
Several people posted mobile phone footage on social media of a glowing image flying through the sky, suggesting it could be a missile heading for the air base, it said.
Across the city, sirens from fire engines and the security forces could be heard for a long time, it added.
NATO said it shot down a second ballistic missile fired from Iran on Monday, prompting a stern warning from Turkiye to Tehran not to take “provocative steps.”
The announcement came shortly after Washington said it was closing down its consulate in Adana, urging all American citizens to leave southeastern Turkiye.
Since the US-Israeli war against Iran started, Tehran has launched strikes across the Middle East. Turkiye had appeared to have been spared.
As well as Incirlik air base, US troops are also stationed at Kurecik, another Turkish base that is a NATO facility in the center of the country, where a Patriot missile defense system was deployed on Tuesday.
A first missile had been intercepted by NATO defenses in Turkish air space on March 4.
