JERUSALEM, Israel -- With 85 percent of the ballots counted, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won at least 75 percent of the vote in Tuesday's Likud party primaries.

Moshe Feiglin, 49, founder and president of the Jewish leadership (Manhigut HaYehudit) faction of the party, said the 24 percent he received represented a significant achievement.

In the 2007 Likud primaries, Feiglin also won nearly 24 percent of the vote.

When the polls closed, Feiglin thanked the volunteers and supporters of his campaign.

"Your achievement is phenomenal by any yardstick: Running against an incumbent PM with a strong and successful government, you convinced one in four Likud members to vote for the faith-based alternative," Feiglin said.

A resident of Karnei Shomron in Samaria, Feiglin opposes Netanyahu's more centrist policies, including a two-state solution or any land-for-peace deal with the Palestinians.

His goal, he says on the faction's website, "is to be prime minister of Israel and to lead the nation to its Jewish destiny with authentic Jewish values."

Netanyahu also thanked Likud voters for their "confidence and renewed support" and promised that "together, we shall continue to lead the nation."

"The real Likud won today," Netanyahu said. "We proved that our strength lies in our unity. We will continue to show responsible leadership and take the lead in education, the economy and security for the sake of all citizens of the State of Israel.

"We are facing great challenges, which no other country faces, and I believe that together we shall overcome them, through the Likud," he said.

Earlier Tuesday, Netanyahu urged "as many Likudniks as possible" to vote at one of the more than 150 polling stations around the country.

Only about half of Likud's 125,000 registered members voted, but results show that Netanyahu enjoys broad support in his party.