The American Spectator

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New Poll Shows Netanyahu Still Ahead in Israel

By Philip Klein on 1.2.09 @ 10:44AM

With Israeli elections set for next month, a new Jerusalem Post poll finds that all totaled, right-wing parties have a strong eight-seat advantage over left parties, suggesting that if the election were held today Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu would return to power as Israel's next prime minister. Most polls have shown that the Gaza operation has benefited Labor (led by Defense Minister Ehud Barak) but has either not helped or hurt the prospects for Kadima, led by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

As for this one:

The survey found that the Likud had risen from 27 seats to 29, Labor had gone up from 14 to 15, and Kadima had fallen from 27 to 23 since the previous Post poll was published on October 31. Likud and Kadima, which were tied then, are now six seats apart, and the Right bloc's advantage over the Left remains a hefty eight mandates, 64 to 56.

The Knesset has 120 members, meaning that the party that wins the most seats needs to put together a coalition with other parties totalling 61 seats to form a government.