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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (55779)	11/5/2002 9:53:25 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Boy, this is a biggy. And unexpected. Will Likud stay with Sharon or move to Bibi? JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Tuesday called early elections for February, leaving Israel with three months of uncertainty as both main parties face power struggles and the region prepares for possible U.S. war on Iraq. With Israel rocked by political upheaval after Sharon's "unity" government collapsed last week, Middle East peace efforts were certain to be put on the back burner for months. "I will dissolve the Knesset and call general elections within 90 days," Sharon told a news conference after failing to form a right-wing government to replace his broad coalition. "The date is one of the first days of February." Hawkish former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said now that Sharon had agreed to a general election, he would accept his offer to become foreign minister in the outgoing government -- and then challenge him for leadership of their Likud party. The center-left Labour Party abandoned its partnership with Sharon last week in a dispute over funding for Jewish settlements on occupied lands where Palestinians want to establish a state. With his coalition reduced to a minority government, Sharon had resisted an early election, saying the timing was wrong with Israel facing serious challenges, an allusion to its deep recession and war clouds hanging over the Gulf. But Sharon said his desire to preserve Israel's "special relationship" with the White House was a main consideration in deciding not to press ahead with efforts to woo ultranationalist parties into his minority government. Political commentators have forecast that Likud would do well in a general election, buoyed by a shift to the right in Israel in response to Palestinian suicide bombings during a two-year-old uprising for statehood. But first Sharon and Labour head Binyamin Ben-Eliezer face tough internal elections in their respective parties and another wild card -- possible U.S. war on Iraq that Israel fears could draw Iraqi missile attacks against its cities. Israeli officials have side-stepped questions on whether Washington had informed them of a date for a military offensive against Iraq, saying only that Israel would receive advance U.S. warning. BIBI'S BACK Palestinians called on Israelis to choose a government committed to a peace process that has been shattered by violence during a two-year-old Palestinian uprising. "What is needed now is an Israeli government committed to peace because this is the only path to security and stability," Nabil Abu Rdainah, a senior adviser to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, told Reuters. At least 1,645 Palestinians and 623 Israelis have been killed since the revolt against Israeli occupation began in September 2000 after peace talks foundered. Netanyahu, who dodged Sharon's offer to become foreign minister after Labour bolted, accepted the post hours after Sharon announced new elections -- the terms Netanyahu had set for joining the cabinet. "There will be a (primary contest) and then we will unite our forces and bring about the Likud's victory and put together the new government," a beaming Netanyahu, who is popularly known as "Bibi," told a news conference. Netanyahu, 53, said Sharon, 74, had "done the right thing for the country" by calling new elections and dissolving a divisive legislature. "If you had brought (Microsoft chairman) Bill Gates as finance minister and Julius Caesar as prime minister, nothing could have been accomplished by this parliament," Netanyahu said. His spokesman said he would be sworn in as foreign minister on Wednesday. LEADERSHIP CONTESTS The Likud contest will be held before the general election but no date has been set. Labour elects a leader and prime ministerial candidate on November 19. Ben-Eliezer is trailing in opinion polls behind two dovish challengers, former general Amram Mitzna and veteran Labour politician Haim Ramon. Sharon had tried to keep his government in power by enlisting the far-right National Union-Yisrael Beitenu party into his coalition, which would have restored the parliamentary majority he lost when Labour left. But National Union-Yisrael Beitenu sought a change in government guidelines that have included accepting President Bush's vision of Palestinian statehood. Israel last held a general election in 1999 and a new one was due by law by October 2003.