Peres May Join New Sharon Party
Nobel peace prize winner Shimon Peres today hinted he may leave the Israeli Labour party he led until three weeks ago to join forces with Ariel Sharon. Mr Peres, a former prime minister, told reporters at the Euromed summit in Barcelona that Mr Sharon, who last week left his own party,...
Nobel peace prize winner Shimon Peres today hinted he may leave the Israeli Labour party he led until three weeks ago to join forces with Ariel Sharon.
Mr Peres, a former prime minister, told reporters at the Euromed summit in Barcelona that Mr Sharon, who last week left his own party, had taken a "different direction" from his party, but he would make no decision until tomorrow night.
The re-alignment of Israeli party politics has seen Labour move further to the left under new leader Amir Peretz and Likud shift to the right after Mr Sharon, one of its founders, announced his intention to form a new centrist grouping.
The Israeli prime minister faced revolt among Likud MPs over the Gaza withdrawal while Mr Peretz's decison to force early elections by pulling Labour out of the governing coalition threatened to rob him of centrist backing.
The two are now in competition for high-profile party members.
An ally of Mr Peres, Dalia Itzik, a former communications minister, today joined Mr Sharon's Kadima party, leading to further speculation that the political veteran could follow.
Mr Peres today spoke warmly of Mr Sharon. "The real change is not in the Labour party. The real change is in the Likud party," he told reporters. "Mr Sharon took a different direction for a Palestinian state. He wants to continue the peace process."
He yesterday said Israeli politics was "not a problem of parties but a problem of peace - how to create a strong coalition for peace".
Ms Itzik, explaining her decision to defect, said Mr Peretz's victory in the Labour leadership contest had felt like "a hostile takeover of the party".
Mr Sharon today also recruited academic Uriel Reichman, a founder of the secular and centrist Shinui party.
Opinion polls predict Kadima will win more votes than either Labour or Likud in the coming election, ensuring Mr Sharon, 77, a third term as prime minister.
The party's manifesto calls for renewed talks on the road map to a Palestinian state backed by the US, UN, EU and Russia. Labour and Kadima need high-profile centrist support to win centrist voters.
Mr Peretz, 54, a Moroccan-born Israeli from a southern working class town, had accused Mr Sharon of acting as though it were "the season for trading soccer players."
His party today recruited an Israeli chat show host, Shelly Yehimovich, and attracted a pledge of support from Avishai Braverman, the president of Ben-Gurion University.
Mr Peres, a former prime minister, told reporters at the Euromed summit in Barcelona that Mr Sharon, who last week left his own party, had taken a "different direction" from his party, but he would make no decision until tomorrow night.
The re-alignment of Israeli party politics has seen Labour move further to the left under new leader Amir Peretz and Likud shift to the right after Mr Sharon, one of its founders, announced his intention to form a new centrist grouping.
The Israeli prime minister faced revolt among Likud MPs over the Gaza withdrawal while Mr Peretz's decison to force early elections by pulling Labour out of the governing coalition threatened to rob him of centrist backing.
The two are now in competition for high-profile party members.
An ally of Mr Peres, Dalia Itzik, a former communications minister, today joined Mr Sharon's Kadima party, leading to further speculation that the political veteran could follow.
Mr Peres today spoke warmly of Mr Sharon. "The real change is not in the Labour party. The real change is in the Likud party," he told reporters. "Mr Sharon took a different direction for a Palestinian state. He wants to continue the peace process."
He yesterday said Israeli politics was "not a problem of parties but a problem of peace - how to create a strong coalition for peace".
Ms Itzik, explaining her decision to defect, said Mr Peretz's victory in the Labour leadership contest had felt like "a hostile takeover of the party".
Mr Sharon today also recruited academic Uriel Reichman, a founder of the secular and centrist Shinui party.
Opinion polls predict Kadima will win more votes than either Labour or Likud in the coming election, ensuring Mr Sharon, 77, a third term as prime minister.
The party's manifesto calls for renewed talks on the road map to a Palestinian state backed by the US, UN, EU and Russia. Labour and Kadima need high-profile centrist support to win centrist voters.
Mr Peretz, 54, a Moroccan-born Israeli from a southern working class town, had accused Mr Sharon of acting as though it were "the season for trading soccer players."
His party today recruited an Israeli chat show host, Shelly Yehimovich, and attracted a pledge of support from Avishai Braverman, the president of Ben-Gurion University.
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