Sharon leaves Likud to form new political party, goes for early election
By Israel Insider staff and partners  November 21, 2005
 
 
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has decided to leave his Likud Party and form a new political movement, a top adviser said Monday, hours before the Israeli leader was to ask the president to dissolve parliament.

By quitting the Likud, Sharon is signaling that he intends to advance peacemaking efforts with the Palestinians, and possibly even follow up his September pullout from the Gaza Strip with further West Bank (Judea and Samaria) withdrawals.

Further withdrawals would be almost impossible within the framework of the hard-line Likud. Party rebels spent months bickering with Sharon over his Gaza pullout, and even came close at times to bringing down the government.

Removed from their constraints, Sharon will be free to pursue the more moderate line he has espoused in recent years - part of a dramatic turnaround from a fervent supporter of Jewish settlements to the first Israeli leader to evacuate Judea, Samaria and Gaza communities.

Sharon's move will also spice up the elections, pitting the 77-year-old prime minister opposite the new populist leader of the Labor Party. The lineup will somewhat change the focus of the campaign from the usual peace-security issues to social and economic topics.

Asaf Shariv, a top Sharon adviser, said the prime minister will officially announce the formation of his new party later Monday. Sharon will also ask President Moshe Katsav on Monday to dissolve parliament - the first step to an early election, Shariv said. Elections will likely be held in March 2006, seven months early.

A March election - just two months after the Palestinians hold their own parliamentary poll - will likely stall peacemaking efforts as the sides focus on internal political issues.

Sharon had repeatedly said the general election would be held in November as scheduled, but after a Labor Party primary brought union boss Amir Peretz to power, an early poll became inevitable. Peretz insisted on pulling Labor out of Sharon's coalition, depriving the prime minister of a parliamentary majority. Late Sunday, Labor voted to bolt the government.

Sharon is expected to take several prominent Likud Cabinet ministers with him into his new party, along with some from Labor. It is possible Shimon Peres - the ousted Labor Party leader - will join forces with Sharon.

Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra said the refusal of the Likud rebels to support Sharon's future peace moves forced the prime minister to leave his political home.

"I think that it is not an easy day. I had hoped that this wouldn't have to happen, that we would all remain together," Ezra told Israel Radio. "I had hoped ... that the members would say we are all falling into line, but that didn't happen and Ariel Sharon decided what he decided and I am going with him."

Sharon's departure turns Likud into a hard-line party that opinion polls show will be the main loser in an election.

"I regret Sharon's decision to leave and would have preferred that he continue his struggle within Likud," said Likud lawmaker Ehud Yatom, a leader of the internal rebellion against Sharon.

At least five Likud Cabinet ministers have said they will compete for the party's leadership after Sharon's exit.
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