Israeli poll shapes up to be a cliffhanger

ISRAEL’S national election is likely to be a cliffhanger, pollsters said yesterday, on the eve of a vote in which right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party had been forecast to emerge victorious.

“The trend we’ve seen the last few days indicates a very close battle,” said pollster Rafi Smith of the Smith Research Center. “No one has jumped ahead and it’s tough to call.”

Likud has been the front-runner since November, after Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of the ruling, centrist Kadima party forced a new election by failing to form a government following Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s resignation in a corruption scandal.