JERUSALEM (JTA) — Controversial Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon was elected chairman of the Likud Party’s Central Committee, in a blow to party leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

Danon last month said in an interview with an Israeli publication, picked up by news services around the world, that the Likud Party and the governing coalition are opposed to a two-state solution and would block a vote on the creation of a Palestinian state.

Some 80 percent of the Central Committee’s 3,600 members voted Sunday around the country.

The Central Committee is able to change the Likud Party’s constitution.

Following his victory, Danon pledged to work with Netanyahu for the good of the party.