By Corinne Heller JERUSALEM, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's centrist Kadima party would plummet into third place behind Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud and another right wing faction if elections were held now, a poll showed on Thursday. Olmert's popularity has collapsed in the aftermath of a 34-day war between Israel and the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, amid widespread criticism of the government's handling of the crisis. The survey in the Yedioth Ahronoth daily showed Likud would get 22 seats -- up from 12 now -- in Israel's 120-member parliament, with Kadima beaten into third place with only 15 seats compared to the 29 it won in March elections. Kadima would slip behind the rightist immigrant party Yisrael Beitenu, whose share would rise to 20 seats from 11 now. Kadima's centre-left coalition partner, Labour, would also drop to 15 seats from 19 now. Kadima was founded by former premier Ariel Sharon less than a year ago to reshape Israel's presence in the occupied West Bank and try to impose a final border with the Palestinians as a way to break from decades of conflict. Under Olmert, Kadima swept aside the long dominant Likud, drawing talk of a seismic shift in Israeli politics. But polls indicate a big move back to the right since the Lebanon war and particularly towards Netanyahu, a former prime minister seen as having stronger military credentials than Olmert. A poll last month showed Olmert's approval ratings had sunk to 22 percent from 48 percent six months earlier. Support for Netanyahu rose to 59 percent. Olmert has rebuffed calls for a state inquiry into the war, which claimed the lives of 1,200 Lebanese and 157 Israelis and ended with an Aug. 14 ceasefire. To avoid a possible early election, Olmert has begun moves to broaden his government. The prime minister is negotiating with Yisrael Beitenu's leader Avigdor Lieberman to try to get the faction to join his coalition. Labour party chief and Defence Minister Amir Peretz opposes bringing in Lieberman's faction, which takes a very hard line on the conflict with the Palestinians, but the drop in support for Labour puts it in a weak position too. The survey published on Thursday in Yedioth Ahronoth polled 501 Israelis and had a 4.5 percent margin of error.
