Had the Israeli general elections been held now, the Labor party led by newly-elected chairman Amir Peretz would have significantly increased its power, according to a latest poll by local newspaper Ha'aretz released on Friday.

If Peretz-led Labor now contended against the ruling Likud party headed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the elections, Labor would win 28 seats and Likud, 39, in the 120-member Knesset (Parliament), said the poll.

The poll also showed that if Sharon left Likud and founded a new party together with former Labor leader Shimon Peres, who is currently Vice Premier, the two veteran leaders would win 32 seats, while Labor would get 27 and Likud led by Benjamin Netanyahu, 25, in that case.

Labor currently holds 21 seats in the parliament and Likud, 40.

The poll also indicated that many Israelis believe that Peretz's victory in the Labor primaries increased the party's chances to regain power.

About 41 percent of the surveyed said Peretz' election as Labor chairman increases the party's chances to regain power while only 20 percent believed in the opposite.

To the question of who is the most suitable man for the post of prime minister, Sharon won a solid 41 percent of support in the poll and Peretz came in second with 22 percent, closely followed by Netanyahu with 17 percent.

Ha'aretz did not reveal how many people had been surveyed in the poll, nor the margin of error.

The 53-year-old Peretz, a union leader, defeated Peres in the Labor leadership race on Wednesday. Peretz has vowed to pull Labor out of the Sharon-led coalition government and called for advancing general elections as early as to March.

Sharon, 77, is also facing grave challenges from dissidents in his own Likud party, who, led by former finance minister Netanyahu, vow to punish the prime minister for the Gaza withdrawal.

Source: Xinhua