Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared headed for a landslide victory in the race for leader of his ruling Likud party, easily distancing his only rival, Israeli media reported early Wednesday dpa reported
With about three-quarters of the votes counted, Netanyahu was polling about 74 per cent, to 26 per cent for hardline settler Moshe Feiglin.
Final results were expected later Wednesday morning.
Some 46 per cent of the Likud's 125,000 eligible members voted in Tuesday's party balloting.
Netanyahu did not call an early general election when he made his victory speech in the early hours of Wednesday, despite speculation that he was intending to bring it forward from its 2013 scheduled date.
Recent surveys show that Netanyahu would lead Likud to victory in the next elections.