Sharon to face new elections in 90 days

JERUSALEM – A meeting today between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the leader of the primary opposition party determined new elections that could change the country's leadership will be held in late February or early March.

The announcement comes amid speculation Sharon might break away from the Likud Party he helped to found and follows a heated Knesset session yesterday in which parliamentary members traded jabs that had many in the audience openly laughing.

"I will let him decide the date within the period of the end of February and the end of March. Any date he decides is okay with me," newly-elected Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz said of his 20-minute meeting with Sharon.

Peretz has decided to remove his party from Sharon's governing unity coalition, which will collapse the current government since it will leave Sharon with less than a majority of the Knesset's 120 seats. According to Israeli law, if the prime minister fails to maintain at least 61 seats in his ruling coalition, new elections must be held within 90 days.

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Peretz told reporters Sharon "was adamant that we need to go to elections as soon as possible," and said he hoped a final date would be determined before Monday, when a bill to dissolve the Knesset is likely to be passed.
Labor had joined Sharon's coalition to help push through the prime minister's Gaza withdrawal plan, which was implemented in August.

Many leaders of Sharon's Likud Party, including former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior party leader Uzi Landau, opposed the withdrawal and have been threatening to oust Sharon as head of the party. Likud traditionally opposes unilateral concessions to the Palestinians.

There have been multiple reports Sharon might bolt Likud and form his own centrist party, leaving Netanyahu and Landau to serve as the opposition. Polls have showed Sharon ahead of Netanyahu in any race, whether the prime minister remains in Likud or starts a new party.

Several polls have predicted if Sharon bolts Likud, Landau would beat Netanyahu in Likud primaries and face Sharon in prime ministerial elections. Landau was the first to quite his government position in protest of the Gaza withdrawal.

At a Knesset session one Israeli reporter in attendance called "borderline comical," Likud ministers took turns giving brief speeches, some calling for party unity to defeat Peretz in upcoming Knesset elections, others trading insults with the party's anti-Gaza withdrawal members.

In a speech typical of the session, Likud member Michael Ratzon said, "There is a time for everything – a time to argue and a time to unite. This is a time to emphasize what we have in common instead of our differences and move forward together."

But Sharon replied he doesn't have faith in calls for party unity.

"Let's not lie to ourselves," he said. "No one in the faction has changed their mind about anything because of this meeting."

A Sharon associate said,"They call for unity now, but right after the elections, it's going to be right back to the infighting,"

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Knesset Member Roni Bar-On, a Sharon loyalist, left the meeting early, saying the unity speeches by Likud members "made me need a barf bag."

Netanyahu said he was upset Sharon has not announced whether he will remain in Likud.

Several Likud members called on Sharon to offer Netanyahu a guaranteed cabinet position in return for not challenging Sharon for the Likud leadership, prompting Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to lash out.

"We have to stop this crybaby approach of saving Bibi," he said. "Bibi is a big boy and he can run by himself."

Landau said in the meeting the Likud should unite around its principles and ideology instead of around the prime minister, eliciting a snipe from Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra, who retorted, "You know you're going to lose, right, so why are you still running?"

By the end of the meeting, the Likud members who did not walk out of the session agreed upon a common statement that the party must "win the election and continue to lead the country."