Word: likud
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...much chance to succeed his boss, given Olmert's image as a remote, high-living élitist. As recently as March 2005, just 13% of Israelis in a poll wanted Olmert for their leader. But his prospects began to turn last fall, when Sharon deserted the right-wing Likud Party to form the centrist Kadima. Six weeks later, a stroke put Sharon in a coma, leaving Olmert to take over as acting government head and party leader. In last month's general election, Kadima won more seats in parliament than any other party, cementing Olmert's claim as Prime Minister...
...parties such as Shas and Beiteinu that championed the neglected but sizeable Sephardic and Russian communities. The Pensioners Party, whose sole platform was to improve benefits for elderly Israelis, was the surprise of the elections, garnering eight seats. All these factors coalesced to deal the once-dominant right-wing Likud party a resounding blow. Led by ex-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Likud scraped together only 11 seats. Netanyahu's harsh budget cuts in the mid-1990s are remembered in fury by many Israelis who sought revenge in these polls...
...Only four months old, Kadima was created by Ariel Sharon with defectors - critics say "opportunists"- from Likud and Labor. And it took an iron-fisted patriarch like Sharon to hold this band of feisty Napoleons together. Party insiders admit that if Sharon were leading the party instead of lying in a coma after a January 4 stroke, Kadima would have fared far better. Now, Kadima will be at the mercy of many partners. Even as the votes were still being counted, Olmert?s advisers last night say they were swamped by calls from prospective coalition allies wanting...
...Some Israelis say that's because the three main candidates-Kadima?s Ehud Olmert, Likud?s Binyamin Netanyahu and Labor?s Amir Peretz-are all either uninspiring or distrusted. But the real reason may be that most Israelis consider the results to be a foregone conclusion. The latest polls give acting prime minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima party enough votes to clobber its rivals (though not enough for a majority); one weekend survey, conducted by the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth, predicts that Kadima will win 36 Knesset seats, Labor 21, and Likud will end up a distant third with...
...real loser in the election may well turn out to be Likud?s Netanyahu. A gruff ex-Prime Minister nicknamed Bibi, Netanyahu managed to anger most of his right-wing voters after taking office in 1996 by cutting subsidies for the big families of ultra-Orthodox Jews and by giving away part of Hebron to the Palestinians. This time around, Netanyahu tried to stop Kadima?s surge in the polls by scare-mongering about Palestinian terrorism and hurling personal insults against Olmert, but these tactics backfired. At best, Likud can hope to become a junior partner as part...