OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, January 3 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israel's
election campaign picked up steam Friday, January 3, as it neared the
final straight, with reports of scandals and smear attacks sending Likud
plummeting in polls.
Most
Israeli newspapers gave front-page coverage to the corruption scandal
involving former Likud deputy infrastructure minister Naomi Blumenthal,
predicting an ongoing police investigation would lead to her indictment,
reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon sacked her this week in an attempt to contain the
damage caused to his campaign for re-election in the January 28
legislative elections by a cash-for-votes scandal inside his party.
The
latest opinion polls showing a decline in the Likud's electoral strength
are a source of consternation for the Likud campaign team. Campaign
strategy planners met Thursday, January 2, and decided, for the time
being, not to change course and to continue targeting the Labor Party as
the main rival. In particular, the party plans to focus on a comparison
between the respective political-security platforms of Labor Party
leader Amram Mitzna and Sharon, according to Israel’s daily Ha’aretz.
Likud
campaign officials are not sure how to explain the party's slide in
surveys conducted in recent weeks. (Ha'aretz polls conducted by the
Dialogue firm have shown a precipitous decline from 41 to 31 seats
during the last three weeks.)
These
officials expressed hope that this was a passing trend that would
reverse itself next week. If the downturn continues, with additional
voters turning to Shas and other parties, a change in strategy will be
required, campaign staffers said.
According
to one of the leaders of the Likud campaign's strategic team, "The
movement toward Shas is mainly due to the strengthening of Shinui. We
need to wait until next week to see whether it stops here. Meanwhile,
we're not changing strategy because our candidate, Sharon, is still the
most popular candidate. Ultimately, the affection and trust in him will
lead people back to us."
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Sharon ordered his troops to take even tougher measures
against the Palestinians
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Likud
MKs and ministers said that the firing of Blumenthal (after she chose to
remain silence during police questioning on an alleged vote-buying
scheme), was one of the reasons for the latest dip in the opinion polls.
Sharon
made a "fatal mistake" in hurrying to fire Blumenthal,
according to these Likud leaders. By flexing his muscles during her
weakest moments, he angered many party activists. "Sharon should
have said that he would wait for the results of the police investigation
before deciding on Blumenthal," the Likud MKs and ministers said.
Sources
close to the prime minister said, however, that Sharon really had no
other choice. Legal precedents require a minister (or deputy minister)
to step down if he or she refuses to respond during police questioning,
these sources said. "If Sharon had not fired Blumenthal, Labor
would have petitioned the High Court of Justice, which would have
compelled the Prime Minister to do this."
Sharon’s
Son May Be Summoned
Likud
loyalists are now concerned that the Prime Minister's son Omri Sharon
will be summoned to the police for questioning next week, thus keeping
the Likud scandals in the headlines. The party is also worried about the
complaints filed Thursday against Sharon's other son, Gilad, in the wake
of an article published in Yedioth Ahronoth about suspected payoffs from
contractor David Appel.
Israelis
Support Ban on Israeli Arabs
Meanwhile,
the opinion polls published Friday revealed that a majority of Israelis
supported the election ban slapped on two Israeli Arab MPs by the
central election commission.
Ahmad
Tibi as well as Azmi Bishara and his Balad party were barred by the
right-wing dominated body from running for office on the grounds that
they supported (alleged) "Palestinian terror".
The
Supreme Court could reverse the decision when it examines the two
candidates' appeals February 7, but Tibi and Bishara have charged that
the decision was a serious
breach of democratic rules.
Paradoxically,
the surveys carried by the Yediot Aharonot and Maariv dailies show that
most Israelis admit the decision will further damage Jewish-Arab
relations in the country.
Sharon
Gets Tougher on Palestinians
Meanwhile,
Sharon, facing a shrinking lead in opinion polls just four weeks ahead
of general elections, ordered his troops to take even tougher measures
against the Palestinians.
A
survey in the daily Haaretz said Sharon's right-wing Likud party would
muster 31 seats out of parliament's 120, dropping 10 from polls
published three weeks ago to its lowest level in months.
The
poll said 44 percent of Israelis hold Sharon directly responsible for
the corruption scandal.
However,
Mitzna's Labor failed to seize the opportunity to boost its ratings, its
projected number of seats in the next Knesset stagnating at 22, the
survey said.
