For the first time since taking office, the public considers Benjamin Netanyahu less suitable to serve as prime minister than opposition leader MK Tzipi Livni, a new Channel 10 poll said Thursday.
According to the poll, when asked, "Who would you rather see as the next prime minister?" Tzipi Livni was named most qualified, with 36 percent of respondents.
Only 23 percent of those polled said Netanyahu was fit to serve as prime minister.
Defense Minister and Labor chairman Ehud Barak was a distant third with 7 percent of respondents considering him to be the most suitable for the position.
Netanyahu had been leading Livni in polls throughout the elections, as well as in polls conducted as recently as a month ago.
Also on Thursday, MK Shaul Mofaz continued his bid to replace Tzipi Lizni as Kadima party head, urging a change in Kadima's regulations that would allow moving up elections for party chairman.
Mofaz made the comments during a speech given in front of the Kadima convention, assembled in the party's Petah Tikva headquarters.
As party rules stand, Kadima's internal elections would take place three months before the general elections.
According to Mofaz, Kadima's regulations, originally tailored to party founder Ariel Sharon's requirements, did not allow the party to present a political alternative to the Likud as well as a disallowing a the party to function in a democratic fashion.
Mofaz had attacked party head Tzipi Livni in recent weeks, saying she was unfit to lead the party and that he intended to run against her and lead Kadima in the next elections.
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