GAZA CITY, 22 November 2005 — Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday asked Israel’s president to dissolve Parliament, pushing for an early election just hours after deciding to leave his hard-line Likud party and to form a new centrist party.
In a big gamble, Sharon said he quit the party he helped found in 1973 because he didn’t want to waste time with political wrangling and didn’t want to squander the opportunities created by the summer’s Gaza pullout, bitterly opposed by Likud hard-liners. Life in Likud had become “insufferable,” Sharon told a news conference.
Sharon’s decision sent shockwaves through Israel, redrawing the political map, finalizing his transformation from hard-liner to moderate and boosting prospects of progress in peacemaking with the Palestinians. Palestinian officials expressed the hope that the political upheaval in Israel would bring them closer to a final peace deal.
However, Sharon cautioned that he was not planning any dramatic moves, if re-elected, and would stick to the US-backed road map peace plan, which calls for a negotiated peace deal culminating in a Palestinian state. Sharon said he was in no hurry, and that he would not move forward until the Palestinians meet their obligations, including dismantling militant groups.
The dramatic events began with Sharon’s decision late Sunday, after a weekend of agonizing, to leave the party he helped found.
At midday yesterday, Sharon met at his office with 10 breakaway Likud legislators, expected to form the core of the new party, reportedly to be called “National Responsibility.”
In all, 13 Likud legislators threw their support behind Sharon. However, a key electoral asset, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, announced he was staying in Likud, and would run for party leader.
At the same time, more than 20 Likud lawmakers held their weekly meeting in Parliament. The faction chief, Gideon Saar, announced that Sharon had sent a letter announcing his resignation from the party.
The oversized brown leather chair, normally reserved for Sharon at the head of the oval table, was pushed to the side.
The acting Likud chairman, Tzahi Hanegbi, said the party would elect a new leader as quickly as possible.
The top contender is former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a vehement opponent of the Gaza pullout.
It appeared increasingly likely the election will be held in March, or eight months ahead of schedule, though there was some wrangling over how the date will be set.
Yesterday morning, Sharon asked President Moshe Katsav to dissolve Parliament, a step that would move the vote to the beginning of March.
If Katsav approves the request, the election must be held within 90 days. Katsav has said he would make a quick decision.
Sharon and Labour Party leader Amir Peretz have said they are interested in holding the election in March, but the final date won’t be set until Katsav decides whether he dissolves Parliament or leaves it up to lawmakers.
If the Parliament decides, factions could put off the election for months. In a preliminary vote yesterday, the Knesset decided 84-8, with 10 abstentions, to dissolve itself, but three more votes are required.
Sharon’s decision set the stage for a turbulent election campaign. It would pit a smaller, more hawkish Likud against Sharon and Peretz, a former union boss. Sharon and Netanyahu are bitter political rivals.
Meanwhile, three fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement were killed and a dozen Israelis wounded as violence flared on the volatile border yesterday.
Israeli military sources said it was the Shiite group which had sparked the fighting with an attack on Israeli troops but Hezbollah retorted that its fighters had only attacked the Israeli patrol after it strayed across the UN-demarcated frontier into Lebanese territory.
The flareup came on the eve of Lebanon’s independence day. The fighting began in the divided village of Ghajar, part of which lies on Lebanese territory and part in the occupied Golan Heights, a strategic plateau which Israel seized from Syria in 1967.
— With input from agencies
