A new poll in the left-wing Ha'aretz newspaper found Likud would win only 27 seats in the 120-member parliament, a drop from 31 predicted in a survey last week and down from 41 estimated in early December.

Likud Plummets in Polls Over Sharon Scandal
A corruption scandal embroiling Prime Minister Ariel Sharon turned Israel's election campaign into an open race on Thursday after opinion polls showed support for his front-running Likud party plummeting.

In a further blow to the Israeli right, the Supreme Court overturned a ban on two prominent Arab candidates for parliament in the January 28 election, a move that could bring more Arab voters to the ballot box.

Sharon called a news conference for 7:45 p.m. (1745 GMT), his office said. An aide said the prime minister would show documents refuting allegations of wrongdoing over a $1.5 million loan from a South African businessman, Cyril Kern.

A new poll in the left-wing Ha'aretz newspaper found Likud would win only 27 seats in the 120-member parliament, a drop from 31 predicted in a survey last week and down from 41 estimated in early December.

Separate polls in the Maariv and Yedioth Ahronoth newspapers found Likud taking 30 and 28 seats respectively. The three surveys were conducted after the loan scandal broke this week.

The polls indicated Sharon could still form a right-wing coalition controlling 61 parliamentary seats.

But a narrow majority could lead Sharon to seek a broader coalition including centrist and left-wing partners likely to push for a softer line toward the Palestinians, waging an uprising for statehood since September 2000.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-israel.html