Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is found by three exit polls to be the winner of the primary of the ruling Kadima party on Wednesday.
Livni gains 47 percent of the votes, and her main rival, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz secures 37 percent, according to an exit poll conducted by local TV Channel 1 and released shortly after the polls closed at 10:30 p.m. (1930 GMT).
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Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni (C) poses for photos with her supporters before casting her vote in the Kadima primary election in Tel Aviv, Israel, September 17, 2008. [Xinhua Photo]
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Another survey, conducted by Channel 2, put the two figures at 48 percent and 37 percent, and the third, by Channel 10, showed Livni will beat Mofaz by 49 percent to 37 percent.
The exit polls mirrored two opinion polls respectively conducted last week and earlier this week, which showed that Livni, 50, would win out in just one round.
Over half of the some 74,000 eligible voters cast their ballots at the over 110 polling stations across the Jewish states in the primary, Kadima's first in its three-year-long history.
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Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livn (C) casts her vote in the Kadima primary election in Tel Aviv, Israel, September 17, 2008. [Xinhua Photo]
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The other two candidates, Public Security Minister Avi Dichter and Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit, respectively pocketed less than 10 percent of the votes, according to the polls.
