Scandal threatens Sharon re-election hopes
A burgeoning corruption scandal has cost Israeli Prime Minister Sharon his once commanding leading in opinion polls with a general election less than three weeks away.
The hard-liner is now no longer assured of re-election on January 28 when only a few weeks ago it appeared his victory was a formality.
The latest poll, out today, showed Sharon’s Likud party winning only 27 seats of the 120 in the Israeli parliament, down from about 40 at the beginning of the campaign in November.
Likud’s main rival, Labour, was up from 22 to 24, while the reformist Shinui stood to get 17 seats.
A party leader must stitch together a majority coalition to win the premiership, and as Likud slips, the task of forming a government that once looked like an automatic Sharon success becomes less clear-cut.
According to the poll, Likud and its allies were now slated to win only 61 seats, a bare majority, down from 67 in November, while Labour and its partners received 40 seats, up from 27.
Centrist parties – Shinui and Am Echad – get 19, the poll predicted.
Shinui leader Yosef Lapid has said he would join only a Labour-Likud unity government without ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties.
The independent Haaretz-Dialogue poll questioned 521 eligible voters and quoted a 4.3% margin of error.
The poll was taken after a leaked Justice Ministry document revealed that police were investigating Sharon and his sons in connection with a near 7.7m Israel New Shekels (€1.5m) loan they received from a British businessman to cover payback of illegal campaign funds from a previous election.
Sharon’s Likud Party was already losing altitude because of a scandal over alleged payoffs, shakedowns and other corruption in internal elections for its list of candidates for parliament.
Sharon denounced the report about the investigation as ”disgraceful political slander,” and said he would counter it with documents and facts. “Those who are spreading this political libel have one aim: to bring down the prime minister,” he said.
Sharon’s political opponents were quick to seize on to the latest scandal in broadcast campaign spots.
Labour’s candidate for prime minister, Amram Mitzna, called Sharon ”the Godfather,” and the dovish Meretz called him “the father of corruption.”
