Sharon's credibility tumbles among Israelis

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s credibility dropped to the lowest level in three years and a majority of Israelis want him to resign, according to a poll published today.

The poll was published as troops sealed the West Bank and Gaza Strip amid new warnings of attacks by Palestinian militants.

The militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups have threatened revenge attacks for two air strikes in the Gaza Strip in the past week that killed six activists in the two groups.

A homemade rocket fired from Gaza today hit a car park outside a supermarket in the Israeli border town of Sderot.

The rocket damaged several nearby stores, but caused no injuries.

In other developments, Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz decided not to withdraw troops from the Gaza Strip before US presidential elections in November and will brief US officials on his position during a trip to Washington next week.

Friday’s poll in the Yediot Ahronot daily indicated that Sharon’s approval rating is at its lowest since he became prime minister in early 2001, an apparent reflection of the growing number of scandals to which he has been linked.

Earlier this week, a newspaper suggested that favouritism played a role in Sharon’s handling of a prisoner swap between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas.

The Maariv daily said a former business partner of Sharon was the ex-father-in-law of Hezbollah captive Elhanan Tannenbaum, a confessed drug dealer and indebted gambler released in the contentious deal.

Sharon said he had not spoken to the business partner for decades, and that he did not know of the man’s ties to Tannenbaum.

In the Dahaf poll in Yediot, 57% of 500 respondents said Sharon was not a trustworthy prime minister, up from 51% in a February poll.

At the beginning of his first term in 2001, just over 20% said he was not to be trusted.

For the first time, a majority of respondents – 53% – also said Sharon should resign as prime minister, while 43% said he should stay on.