Dahaf Director Dr. Mina Tzemach explains Sharon:Netanyahu Poll Results

Aaron Lerner Date: 27 August 2002

IMRA asked Dahaf Director Dr. Mina Tzemach if she thought there was
something odd about the results of last week's Dahaf poll (published in
Yediot Ahronot 23 August 2002) that found that when Likud voters were asked
who they would like to head the Likud they favored Sharon - Sharon 51%
Netanyahu 34% while just a week before that Market Watch found that of the
total population the results were Sharon 31% Netanyahu 33% and among those
who vote right Sharon 36% Netanyahu 45%.

Dr. Tzemach said she checked and confirmed the accuracy of her survey. She
noted that the 51%:34% result was among those who say they would vote for
the Likud Party now. When she looked at the results for those who said they
voted for the Likud in the 1999 she found that support for Netanyahu and
Sharon was close to each other.

It should be noted that if primaries are held in the Likud that hundreds of
thousands have been brought into the party by both camps as well as others
so it is very difficult to properly characterize that group without
extensive and specific polling. The same can be said regarding the need for
specific polling of Likud Central Committee members to determine who the
Central Committee supports.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director
IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
pager 03-610666 subscriber 4811
Website: http://www.imra.org.il