http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230111698563&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Pair of polls show tight race for PM
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A pair of polls published Thursday showed Binyamin Netanyahu's Likud party losing part of its substantial lead in public support but still best able to put together a government after the February 10 general elections.
Likud chairman Binyamin...
Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu.
Photo: AP
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Several weeks ago, Netanyahu was solidly ahead in the polls, leaving his rival, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of the ruling Kadima party, lagging behind by as many as nine seats.
The new polls showed his lead shrinking to four seats, but potential hawkish partners gaining the strength he lost.A Dialog survey published in Haaretz showed Likud winning 30 of parliament's 120 seats, down from 36 seats in its previous poll two week ago. The poll, which surveyed 475 people and had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points, had Kadima winning 26 seats, down one from its previous showing.
A Dahaf survey published in Yediot Ahronot had identical results. That poll surveyed 525 people and had a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.
Camil Fuchs, who supervises Dialog's survey, linked the shift to Netanyahu's machinations to drop the ranking of ultra-hawkish candidate Moshe Feiglin on Likud's slate of candidates for parliament. Netanyahu had been afraid that a higher ranking would have alienated moderate voters whose support he hoped to court.
But the polls suggest the move backfired, driving some former Netanyahu backers into the arms of other nationalist parties that similarly oppose the sweeping territorial concessions that would be needed to make peace with the Palestinians and Syria.
Foreign Minister and new...
Foreign Minister and new Kadima chair Tzipi Livni.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimksi
At stake is the future of peace talks with the Palestinian Authority leadership in charge of the West Bank. Livni has been leading the negotiations for the past year. Netanyahu has sent mixed signals over whether he would pursue the US-backed talks