Atilla the Hun set to be re-elected chief of Israel's Likud

Israel's former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to be re-elected on Tuesday as leader of Likud, the hawkish party topping opinion polls a year after its worst electoral defeat.

Internal party opinion polls have given Netanyahu a massive lead in the party primary, with at least 70 percent of the vote in the race against Moshe Feiglin, backed by Likud's hardline religious current, and another little-known candidate, Danny Danon.

Former foreign minister Silvan Shalom, the only candidate to threaten Netanyahu's leadership, refused last month to take part in the race after Netanyahu decided on the party primary date without consulting him.

The biggest threat to Netanyahu in Tuesday's vote is turnout -- as it is taking place in the middle of summer vacation, many of the 100,000 registered members of Likud could stay away, observers say. AFP