Here it is again.
Ayalon, 61, has pledged to lead the centrist Labor out of its year-old partnership with Olmert if the prime minister’s Kadima Party does not choose a new leader.
Notes: The AP has not yet given Kadima an adjective. But they’re warming up the “hard-right” for Likud (which they already call “hardline”).
Opinion polls forecast the Likud Party, led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, would win handily if elections were held today. Likud takes a hard line against concessions to the Palestinians, whereas both Barak and Ayalon are willing to cede large chunks of land in a final peace deal.
Hardline = conservative? Well hey, if I could vote there that would be a ringing endorsement!