Kadima, Labor lose mandates; Likud, Meretz gain

A Geocartographic Institute poll published Thursday indicated that the Likud was up by a mandate after chairman Binyamin Netanyahu's victory in the Likud central committee on Wednesday evening, bringing the party's total projected mandates to 17. Kadima appeared for the first time to be losing mandates, and dropped from 39 to 38. Kadima has lost between five and seven mandates in polls over the last month. The same poll showed Labor slipping to 15 mandates, the National Union-NRP slipped to 11, Yisrael Beitenu at 10 and Shas at eight mandates. Meretz-Yahad gained two mandates for a total of seven, Army Radio reported.