_a.jpg "Photo: Yaron Brenner")
Peretz. Reason for optimism?
Photo: Yaron Brenner
Olmert. Losing strength
Photo: AFP
Poll: Kadima down, Labor up
Five days ahead of elections, Kadima losing power in polls, going down 3 mandates to 36. Meanwhile Labor gains in strength, would have received 21 seats had elections taken place today
While senior Kadima members have been acting in the last days as if the elections have already been won, only five days ahead of the crucial day the party is losing ground in the polls. According to a recent survey conducted by Dr. Mina Tzemach of the Dahaf Institute for Yedioth Ahronoth, had elections taken place today, Kadima would have received 36 seats, losing three mandates compared to a previous poll published last week.
Meanwhile, the poll revealed that support for Labor is up, with respondents giving the party 21 seats, while on the other side of the political spectrum Likud continued to lose power and would have gotten only 14 mandates had the vote been held today.
The poll, conducted among 1,062 adult Israelis (3 percent margin error), also showed a gaining in strength for Avigdor Lieberman's Israel Our Home, which received 11 seats, an equal figure to religious party Shas.
According to the survey, the National Union-National Religious Party also has reason for optimism, as it has gone up in the polls from eight to nine mandates. The Arab parties received eight seats altogether in the poll, while leftist party Meretz, which was given only four mandates in the previous poll, was now given six. Ultra-Orthodox list United Torah Judaism, on the other hand, lost one mandate in the current poll, dropping to five Knesset seats.
Youngsters more rightists than parents
The Dahaf Institute also examined the political tendencies of 294 youngsters who are voting for the first time in their lives this year. According to the survey, most of them will lend their vote to Kadima, but are nevertheless more rightist and religious than their parents are. Notably, only 57 percent of the young respondents said they were planning on voting, a low figure even in comparison to the general population's low anticipated voter turnout rate, which stands at 63 percent.
According to the poll, 26 percent of youths will vote for Kadima, almost 19 percent for the National Union-National Religious Party, nine percent will support Shas and a similar rate will put a ballot for the United Torah Judaism.
The survey further revealed that six and-a-half percent of first-time voters would have voted for Meretz today, only five and-a-half for Labor, and almost an equal figure for the Likud.
