Israeli Government Not to Be Disturbed By Poll: BarakIsraeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak Friday brushed aside an opinion poll in favor of his predecessor and political opponent Benjamin Netanyahu, saying his government will not be disturbed by anything.The poll, published by Israel's popular Ma'ariv daily Friday morning, showed that if elections are held today, Netanyahu will defeat Barak by a majority of 44 percent to 36 percent. The poll's margin of error is 4.5 percent. It is a warning signal to Barak, especially considering Netanyahu was recommended by police on March 28 to be indicted with charges such as bribery, fraud and breach of public trust. However, Barak told Israel Radio on Friday his government is one of deeds, not one of talks, suggesting he will not take the poll figure as serious. The poll, carried out by Gallup on a representative sample of 594 Israeli adults (both Jews and Arabs), was the latest in a series of polls surveying Barak's popularity versus that of Netanyahu. Poll records showed Netanyahu surpassed Barak, the first time since Barak took office last July, in last Week's survey, which indicated Netanyahu would win general elections against Barak by a margin of 42 percent to 40 percent. Most analysts attributed the swing of the pendulum between Barak and Netanyahu to Barak's clumsy dealing with the government crisis in the past few weeks. Ministers from the ultraorthodox religious Shas party, who holds pivotal 17 seats in Israel's 120-member Knesset and is the biggest ruling partner in Barak's coalition, submitted their resignation letters to Barak last Tuesday. Although they changed their minds at the last minute to avoid the crisis, Barak had to swallow his pride and satisfy most of the party's demands, including funding its ailing educational network, legalizing its pirate radio stations, and having a say in the peace process with the Palestinians. Moreover, Yisrael Ba'aliya and National Religious Party, two other right-wing partners in Barak's coalition, initiated a fresh crisis this week, threatening to resign over reported concessions being made to the Palestinians in peace talks. Party officials have said that if Barak goes to a summit with U. S. President Bill Clinton and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat without red lines to prevent so-called "excessive concessions" to the Palestinians, the two parties will surely resign. Barak has been in the hope that such a summit will make final decisions to resolve the disputes between the two sides over the thorny final-status issues, such as the fate of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, Jewish settlements, border, security and water. However, the threats made by his ruling partners and the popularity sliding in the poll might undermine his credibility in the talks. |
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