AND THEN THERE WERE TWO

May 16, 1999
		With three candidates withdrawing from the election for prime minister, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and One Israel candidate Ehud Barak prepare for a head-to-head battle. -- Posted 12:45 pm EDT

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The dominoes started falling on Saturday, when Azmi Bishari, the first Arab ever to stand for prime minister, withdrew his candidacy. By Sunday afternoon, both Yitzhak Mordechai and Ze'ev Begin had followed suit, thus making it a two-man race. Although Mr. Netanyahu is expected to pickup Mr. Begin's votes, most experts believe it is Mr. Barak who will reap the rewards of the recent withdrawals. Mr. Mordechai, the former defense minister under Mr. Netanyahu, called upon his supporters to vote for Mr. Barak on Monday. "Netanyahu, to say the least, has not achieved his goals, not in the economic and social arenas and not in security policy," Mr. Mordechai said at a press conference on Sunday. "I believe we must change the regime in Israel." Mr. Mordechai's endorsement coupled with the fact that most of Mr. Bishari's supporters will likely turn to Mr. Barak -- Israeli Arabs have historically voted for Labor -- has many political analysts predicting a Barak-victory. The latest polls seem to confirm such a prediction, but opinion may be misleading. In the 1996 election, polling data failed to indicate that Mr. Netanyahu would defeat Shimon Peres. -- Compiled from wire sources

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