After Paris march, Netanyahu leads the pack in Israeli election

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waves after his speech during the launch of his Likud party election campaign in Tel Aviv January 5, 2015. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - In the cold reality of politics, the killing of four French Jews in a Paris supermarket seems to have helped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deliver a strong message to Israeli voters that he has their back.

With two months to go until Israel's national election, Netanyahu - who marched with dozens of world leaders at a memorial rally for the victims of last week's Islamist militant attacks in the French capital - heads a crowded pack of candidates despite the challenge of a new centre-left alliance.