Race Gets Tighter In Israel

Israel's first Arab candidate for prime minister dropped out of the race Saturday night, a move that could help boost the candidacy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chief challenger.

Azmi Bishara said he made the decision because he saw that his continued candidacy could hurt chances of toppling Netanyahu. Bishara, however, did not call on his constituency of Israeli Arab voters to support moderate opposition leader Ehud Barak.

Aides to Bishara said the decision came after daylong discussions with the camp of Barak, who is favored in the polls heading into Monday's election.

Bishara, an Arab Christian lawmaker and former philosophy professor, is an advocate of equal rights for Israel's 1 million Arab citizens. Israeli Arabs, who hold citizenship based on their families having lived in Israel at the time of the state's creation in 1948, make up 11 percent of Israel's 4.3 million voters.

It had been predicted that Bishara, 42, would drop out to give Barak a better chance to win in a single round. A second round of voting would be held in two weeks if no candidate garners 50 percent of the vote.

Polls had suggested that if Bishara stayed in the race he would get about 2 percent of the vote.

Israeli Arabs hold 12 of the 120 seats in Israel's parliament, or Knesset, but are divided on tactics and ideology.