New poll shows Sharon widening lead

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has widened his lead over his rivals in upcoming national elections following a suicide bombing at an Israeli mall this week, according to new public opinion polls published today.

The Yediot Ahronot daily said Sharon’s new Kadima Party would capture 39 of 120 seats in parliament, up from 34 seats in a poll the previous week.

That would put him in a strong position to form a ruling coalition supporting his aim of restarting peace talks with the Palestinians.

The dovish Labour Party would take 23 seats, down from 27, and Likud, the hard-line party that Sharon recently quit, fell to 13 seats from 16.

Sharon left the Likud last month, saying formation of the centrist Kadima bloc would give him more leeway to pursue a peace deal after the March 28 elections.

This week’s suicide bombing appeared to bolster support for Sharon, a former general who has strong security credentials with the public. Labour’s leader, Amir Peretz, is campaigning on a platform of social and economic issues and is perceived as being inexperienced with security matters.

The Yediot poll, conducted by the Dahaf Institute, surveyed 510 people and had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.

The poll signalled a softening of support for Peretz, a union leader who won a surprise victory over Labour stalwart Shimon Peres in party primaries last month. Support for Peretz has gradually dwindled since then.

In an interview with the Maariv daily, Peretz said there was no reason to panic.

“I don’t feel like I have lost any momentum,” he said.

“There are definitely difficulties in building party infrastructure, and due to the nature of things, there will be much criticism and that’s OK.”

He said that the latest polls following a suicide bombing and new tensions with Iran – widely perceived as Israel’s biggest threat – and noted that the campaign hasn’t begun in earnest yet.

Yesterday, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak decided not to run in the elections on the Labour slate and he blasted Peretz for allowing former Prime Minister Shimon Peres to defect to Sharon’s new party.

In a separate poll published today, the Haaretz daily said that 43% of the public believes Sharon to be most suitable for prime minister, compared to 15% for Peretz and 14% for Likud hopeful Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a previous poll, Sharon received 47% support, compared with 19% for Peretz and 10% for Netanyahu.

The survey was conducted by the Dialog polling agency. The newspaper did not say how many people were questioned or give a margin of error.