Netanyahu gaining strength ahead of March elections

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party could win 25 seats in parliament, according to a poll released Monday.

The poll puts the Israeli leader and his party for the first time in a leading position in the March general elections.

In a survey done by the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, supports for Netanyahu have increased by three seats from last month, the highest approval rates since the election date was announced.

The joint list headed by Labor party chairman Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni, named the Zionist Camp, could receive a mere 23 seats, according to the poll.

Hardliner Naftali Bennett's Jewish Home lagged behind in the poll with 14 seats, compared with 16 in the previous survey. The Joint Arab List, composed by the Jewish-Arab communist party and three more Arab parties, went up to the fourth largest party in the parliament with 12 seats.

The upcoming election, to be held on March 17, was announced two years ahead of its original date after the parliament voted to disband in December.

Netanyahu is reputed to be re-elected for the fourth time in a row, despite wide public criticism about his anti-social policy and several scandals involving his wife, who was recently accused of pocketing public funds by returning empty bottles to supermarkets.

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