Poll: Kadima gains strength over Labor, Likud
During week of multiple Qassam attacks on Israel, poll shows Olmert’s party increasing lead over Labor, Likud ahead of March 28 elections
In a week of Qassam and terror attacks, during which Ehud Olmert gave his first television interview as acting prime minister, a Dahaf Institute poll, published Thursday in Israel’s leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, shows Kadima is increasing its lead over Labor and Likud ahead of the March 28 elections.
The poll reveals Kadima is set to gain 43 Knesset seats in the elections, a rise of one seat from the previous poll; Labor loses one seat and is set to gain 20 seats in the elections, while the Benjamin Netanyahu-led Likud remains at 15 Knesset seats.
The religious party Shas gains 11 Knesset seats in the poll, followed by the ultra-orthodox party United Torah Judaism and the right-wing party Israel Our Home, which are each set to receive six Knesset seats.
According to the poll, the left-wing Meretz-Yahad party is set to gain five seats. The right-wing National Union stands to have four representatives in Knesset, while the National Religious Party is set to gain two seats (parties will apparently run as one consolidated list).
The Arab parties are expected to gain a total of eight seats. The central Shinui party is expected to vanish from the Knesset.
The poll included 500 respondents, who constitute a representative sample of Israel's adult population.
The maximal sampling error was 4.4. percent.
