Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon agreed yesterday to hold early elections, possibly as soon as February, kicking off a political campaign certain to freeze all moves to restart Mideast peace talks. After meeting with Sharon yesterday morning, Labor Party leader Amir Peretz said the two men had discussed holding the ballot between late February and the end of March, instead of next November as scheduled.
Sharon spokesman Asaf Shariv said the prime minister wanted to hold elections as soon as possible.
Sharon plans to meet with other parliamentary faction leaders to discuss possible elections dates before Monday, when Israel's parliament is scheduled to holds a preliminary vote on whether to dissolve the government, Shariv said.
The Israeli election campaign, combined with Palestinian parliamentary elections scheduled for January, would postpone efforts to build on the momentum from Israel's recent pullout from the Gaza Strip to spark new peace moves after five years of Israel-Palestinian violence.
Peretz, head of the second-largest party in Sharon's coalition, told a news conference that Sharon had agreed to choose an election date by Monday.
"I'm letting him choose a date in that period between the end of February and the end of March and whatever date he chooses is acceptable to me. The earlier the better," Peretz said.
The call for early elections gained momentum when Peretz was elected Labor leader last week on a platform that included pulling out of the government and forcing an early poll.
Peretz defeated Labor head Shimon Peres, who led the party into a coalition to support the Gaza pullout, which sparked a rebellion within Sharon's hardline Likud faction, threatening to bring down the government before the withdrawal. Peretz's victory left Sharon with little choice but abandon his efforts to keep his government together.
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