Likud party losing ground in Israel
Newspaper poll predicts Likud party would lose to centrist Kadima; newspaper cites rift with US as reason
Occupied Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party would lose to centrist Kadima were a parliamentary election held now, according to an opinion poll published yesterday.
The poll in the popular Yedioth Ahronot newspaper predicted that Likud, which heads Israel's right-wing coalition, would increase its representation in parliament to 29 seats, up from 27, but it would trail Kadima by three seats.
The paper linked the shift against Likud to frayed relations between Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama over Israel's continuing colony expansion in the West Bank, but did not present findings on the Israeli leader's personal popularity.
It said 64 per cent felt that the Netanyahu coalition's policies "do not represent" their wishes. The poll said Kadima, which has 28 seats in parliament, would extend its lead to 32 seats if voters were balloted now.
