Foreign money being used to defeat me

With less than 24 hours to go until an election that he appears on course to lose, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested on Sunday that there was an international conspiracy to topple him, talked up security fears over Iran and played on anti-Arab sentiment in an effort to galvanise wavering supporters.

In a sign of the increasingly high stakes before Israeli voters go to the polls today – and with serving soldiers already beginning to cast their votes – Netanyahu turned his fire on the opposition Zionist Union, which is on course to win four more seats than his own Likud party, according to a new poll. "I turn to the public out of concern that we will not be able to form the government because of the enormous support to them from foreign associations which are giving them tens of millions of dollars," the Prime Minister told Israel Radio, referring to the Zionist Union leaders Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni.

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Friday's poll for Channel Ten television put Likud on 20 seats, the lowest number forecast for it since Netanyahu called an early election in the hope of securing a firmer footing for his Likud-led right-of-centre coalition. Over the past few days Netanyahu has changed tactics and instead of shying away from interviews has gone from studio to studio to attempt to get his message across.

The suggestion that there is a conspiracy against him seems a sign of desperation from Netanyahu, who only three months ago was expected to coast to victory.