Sephardi voters desert Amir Peretz

In a poll by professor Ephraim Yaar of the university of Tel Aviv conducted before Ariel Sharon's stroke, support among Sephardi Jews for the Labour party fell by 13 percent in November and December. Support among Ashkenazi electors fell by only four percent.

Haaretz reports that these results contradict Labour's own predictions, which had assumed that its traditional Ashkenazi electorate might desert it.

Professor Yaar suggests two explanations:First, Peretz is seen as deeply rooted in the secular left, with which the Sephardim identify less. Second,the Sephardim are not swayed by the 'ethnic' vote. They will not vote for him just because he is a Sephardi.