Palestinian officials urged Israeli voters to choose a Government "that supports peace."
Speaking to reporters the beleaguered Prime Minister suggested he had acted under pressure as "elections are the last thing the country needs right now" at a time of Palestinian suicide attacks and a possible United States-led war against Iraq.
Ex-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had made an early ballot a condition for joining the cabinet as Foreign Minister, although he warned he would still challenge Sharon to become their Likud party’s next premier-candidate, at an upcoming primary.
"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 20-month-old broad coalition. The voting is expected to take place either January 28 or the early days of February.
"RIGHT THING"
53-year old Netanyahu said Sharon, 74, had "done the right thing for the country" by calling new elections. Netanyahu, who has demanded a harder line towards Palestinian militants, was prime minister from 1996 until 1999, when he was defeated by Labor’s Ehud Barak.
Opinion polls have suggested that Sharon’s Likud Party would win the elections and could form a stable right-wing government, as Israel seems to move to the right following suicide attacks that killed hundreds of civilians since 2001.
The Palestinian violence has apparently also weakened the position of the more moderate Labor party, which pulled out of the coalition Government last week, after Sharon refused to cut back on funding Jewish settlers in the disputed territories.
PEACE CABINET
Yet, Palestinian officials urged Israelis Tuesday, November 5, to choose a cabinet committed to peace, which they believe is impossible under a Sharon style leadership.
"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, was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.
But analysts believe a suicide attack Monday, November 4, that killed at least 3 in a shopping mall in central Israel, only fuelled Sharon’s military campaign in Palestinian territories, despite criticism from human rights groups such as Amnesty International.
On Tuesday, November 5, Israeli forces reportedly killed two alleged Palestinian gunmen during an operation in Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
