Likud heading to victory, polls show

A pair of polls published yesterday showed opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu's hardline Likud party cruising past Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's moderate Kadima party to a decisive victory in Israel's Feb 10 elections.

The polls also forecast strong support for Netanyahu's hard-line allies, putting him in a commanding position to put together a hawkish coalition that would likely end peace talks with the Palestinians, at least in their current form.

Netanyahu believes the US-backed talks, which aim to establish an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, have been a failure and thinks negotiations should largely be limited to developing the Palestinian economy. Livni, who has been Israel's chief negotiator the past year, wants to continue the talks.