Israel’s embattled premier Benjamin Netanyahu faced off against longtime rival Gideon Saar for the Likud party leadership yesterday, in a contest that could threaten his grip on power. A defeat for Netanyahu, 70, would be a shock, but even a relatively close result could weaken his influence over the conservative party he has dominated for 20 years.

In power as premier for a decade, Netanyahu early next year faces a third general election within 12 months and has been indicted in a multi-pronged corruption probe.

But to lead Likud into the next national poll, he must overcome the internal party challenge.

Polls in that party race opened across the country at 09:00am (0700 GMT), with Likud’s roughly 116,000 eligible voters having until 11:00pm to choose between Netanyahu and Saar. Results are expected early Friday morning.

At a polling station in the Kiryat Moshe neighbourhood of Jerusalem, Rami David said he voted for Saar because “he would give Likud a new image.”

Saar, 53, has been a senior figure in the Likud for a decade and held multiple ministries.