Israeli PM gets rabbis' backing

THE ISRAELI Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, trailing in opinion polls ahead of next week's election, won the endorsement yesterday of ultra-Orthodox rabbis whose word is law for hundreds of thousands of faithful Jews.

The move by the Council of Torah Sages, which controls the linchpin Shas religious party of Jews of Middle Eastern or North African descent, ended speculation over whether Mr Netanyahu would officially have Haredim - God-fearing Jews - on his side. But with most already widely expected to vote for Mr Netanyahu, the endorsement appeared unlikely to be a big electoral boost.

The forum's secretary Raphael Pinhasi said: "The council heard the recommendations of the chairman of the Shas movement and its ministers, legislators and heads of local branches to vote for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The council accepted this recommendation and calls on the general public to vote for Prime Minister Netanyahu."

Both Mr Netanyahu and his main challenger, Ehud Barak, the Labour Party leader, have courted Shas in the run-up to Monday's election. Both men have tiptoed around any public condemnation of the Shas leader Aryeh Deri, convicted in March on corruption charges.

Shas is the third largest faction in parliament, with 10 seats in the 120-member body. Efraim Inbar, a political scientist at Bar-Ilan University, a religious institution near Tel Aviv, said the endorsement fits into Mr Netanyahu's game plan in the waning days of the campaign. "There's an impression that he is slipping in the polls and [the endorsement] is part of the strategy to strengthen support for him," Mr Inbar said. "From a psychological point of view, it shows his coalition is alive and well, but in reality there aren't that many floating votes [among the Shas]."

A Channel Two Television poll released late on Tuesday showed Mr Barak taking 44 per cent of the vote to 35 per cent for Mr Netanyahu in the first round of voting on 17 May. If none of the five candidates wins more than 50 per cent, a second round will be held on 1 June. In that case the poll showed Mr Barak taking 50 per cent to 33 per cent for Mr Netanyahu.

A poll in the Globes newspaper said Mr Barak would win 50 per cent and Mr Netanyahu 41 per cent in a second round. (Reuters)