AFP

JERUSALEM AN Israeli poll published on Friday, amid fresh talk of possible early elections, showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party winning twice as much support as any rival.

But the Smith Research survey carried by Jerusalem Post newspaper said Likud would still fall far short of a parliamentary majority and once again be forced into a coalition.

The poll of 500 Jewish and Arab Israelis said that if Netanyahu brought forward a general election scheduled for October 2013, Likud would take 31 seats in the 120-seat legislature.

The tally would be well ahead of Labour and the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu — a current coalition partner — which would have 15 each.

The centrist opposition Kadima, currently the largest party by a hair, with 28 seats to Likud’s 27 would shrink to 13 in early elections, it said.