Sharon widens lead in Israel polls

It was but a short time ago that Sharon seemed to be losing popularity because of terror attacks gone unabated.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has widened his commanding lead over hawkish Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their race to head the Likud party in Israel's January election, a poll has shown.

The survey in the mass-circulation daily Yedioth Ahronoth said 54 percent of the right-wing Likud's voters would cast their ballots for Sharon in the party's November 28 primary compared to 38 percent for Netanyahu.

The findings signal that Netanyahu, an ex-premier urging even tougher policies against the Palestinians, has failed to convince the party faithful he has a solution to two years of violence and recession which has only grown worse under Sharon. [....]