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26 Iyar 5759 - May 12, 1999 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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One Round Only?

by Arye Zisman

In opposition to previous projections, the two large parties are preparing for one round of elections only. Surveys indicate that Yitzchak Mordechai will receive only a minimal amount of votes for the office of prime minister. Currently, none of the five candidates for prime minister are withdrawing their candidacy.

The two large parties, Likud and Yisrael Achat, are preparing for the possibility that the die will be cast in the first round, because of Mordechai's drop in the surveys and in the persistent rumors claiming that Mordechai will withdraw from the race just before the elections.

The Likud, which has until now been preparing for a second round and has even prepared strategy as well as budgets for such a scenario, now fears it will face only one round.

In Yisrael Achat they are also preparing for one round. Party chairman, MK Ehud Barak, canceled next week's planned 3-day visit to Russia, presumably because of the possibility that the decision will be made during the first round. Labor surveys indicate that if MK Bashara withdraws his candidacy, even if Mordechai does not withdraw, Barak is still likely to beat Netanyahu by one percent in the first round.

Currently, none of the five candidates have expressed plans to withdraw. Last week, MK Benny Begin reiterated that he doesn't plan to withdraw from the race, even though most of his colleagues from the Ichud Haleumi have informed him that they plan to vote for Netanyahu. MK Ze'evi confirmed that the party is indeed attempting to remove Begin's candidacy.


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