For a previous election news roundup, see here.
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At this early stage, it seems as though Sharon’s “gamble” in leaving Likud and setting up his own, centrist party, could very well pay off.
All of Israel’s major media outlets are predicting a big Sharon victory in the upcoming March elections. According to their surveys, Sharon’s new party will win 30-33 Knesset seats (the Jerusalem Post reports that surveys predict as many as 35 seats for Sharon. The same surveys suggest dark times ahead for Likud).
|
|
Ynet | Ha’aretz | Maariv |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sharon |
33 |
30 |
30 |
| Labor |
26 |
26 |
26 |
| Likud |
12 |
15 |
15 |
However, as Ha’aretz notes:
The surveys must be treated with caution, as they comes in the wake of the euphoria over Sharon’s dramatic quitting of the Likud. Past experience has shown that new parties tend to drop after an initial period of success in the surveys, and that voters tend to return to familiar patterns when it comes to election day.
In other related news:
