OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 28 November 2002 — If the polls are right, Ariel Sharon looks set to trounce Binyamin Netanyahu in today’s contest for the leadership of Israel’s Likud Party and go on to win a second term as prime minister in January’s elections.
A poll for the Israeli Ha’aretz newspaper yesterday gave Sharon a 24-point lead over Netanyahu going into today’s leadership election. The smallest predicted victory margin for Sharon was 20 points, in a poll for Yedioth Ahronoth.
With the polls predicting a similar victory for the Likud Party in January’s national elections, Sharon, whom many blamed for touching off the current Palestinian Intifada with his controversial visit to the Temple Mount, or Haram al-Sharif, two years ago, looks likely to continue to lead Israel through it.
For Netanyahu, the hard-line former prime minister who based his comeback campaign around criticizing Sharon for not being tough enough on the Palestinians, despite two years of brutal repression in the Occupied Territories, the situation now looks desperate. To lose to Sharon is one thing, but if he loses by such a wide margin as the polls are predicting, his credibility within Likud will be damaged, at least for some time.
Although the new leader of Likud’s main opponent, Amram Mitzna over at the Labour Party, has pledged to resume peace talks with Yasser Arafat if he wins in January, the future does not look too bright for the peace process with Likud so far ahead in the polls.
One of the main differences between Netanyahu and Sharon during the Likud leadership contest has been that Netanyahu pledged that he would never agree to the creation of a Palestinian state — the centerpiece of the White House’s current proposals to get the peace process restarted. (The Independent)
