Poll: Kadima under Livni would beat Likud

JERUSALEM, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- A poll released Friday indicates the Kadima Party would defeat Likud in an Israeli election if Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was at its head.

Livni is locked in a battle for party leadership with Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz. The poll, conducted for the newspaper Haaretz found that Livni is the only Kadima leader likely to beat Likud under the leadership of its chairman, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The election would still be a close one, Haaretz said. The poll suggested that Kadima would win 26 seats in the Knesset, while Likud would win 25, and the election would be close to a three-way tie with the Labor Party also in the mix.

Dialog surveyed 403 Israeli voters Thursday. The poll has a margin of error of 4.1 percent.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced this week that he plans to step down.