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Israel's center-left alliance widens lead over ruling Likud party: poll

Xinhua, March 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Israel's opposition center-left Zionist Union widened its lead over the ruling Likud Party a week before the upcoming parliamentary elections, said a poll published on Tuesday.

The poll, conducted by the Israeli Knesset (parliament) Channel, revealed that the Zionist Union, composed of the Labor Party led by Isaac Herzog and the Hatnua Party headed by former Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, would garner 24 seats in the 120-seat parliament, compared to 21 seats for the Likud led by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The centrist Yesh Atid Party chaired by former finance minister Yair Lapid is also gaining strength and may become the third largest party in the parliament with 14 seats, according to the poll.

The Joint Arab list, an alliance of three Arab and Arab-Jewish parties, will get 13 seats in the next Knesset, the poll said, adding that it is followed by the nationalist right-wing Jewish Home party with 12 seats.

Netanyahu announced elections last December after firing Livni and Lapid for an alleged attempt to topple his government.

Last December, Livni's Hatnua party formed a union with the Labor Party, vowing to replace Netanyahu who has been the prime minister since 2009.

Netanyahu has stressed his hardline security stances regarding the Palestinians and Iran in order to gain the votes of the far-right, while center-left parties have focused on socio-economic issues. Endit