Barak to resign, call for special election

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Ehud Barak has decided to resign as prime minister and hold special elections for the post within 60 days.

Barak said his decision is meant to avoid what he called an unnecessary election campaign during military tensions with the Palestinians. He said he would meet with President Moshe Katsav on Sunday and submit his resignation.

From that point, Barak has 48 hours to change his mind.

"I don't see any reason to drag the country into an unnecessary election," Barak said in a national address on late Saturday. "Israel is in a state of emergency."

Barak, 58, had been urged to resign and run for prime minister in an attempt to stop any challenge from former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu, who lost in the 1999 race, leads Barak in recent polls.

Israeli law stipulates that only a Knesset member can run in an election for prime minister. Netanyahu resigned last year and has not announced his return to politics.

Political analysts said Barak prefers to face Likud chairman Ariel Sharon, who intends to run for prime minister. They said Barak was stunned by weekend polls, which showed Barak being trounced by Netanyahu.

In contrast, Barak trails slightly behind Sharon in recent polls.

Barak did not rule out that he would complete a peace treaty with the Palestinians in the remaining weeks until the elections. But the analysts said this would probably not be achieved.

Instead, the analysts as well as several key parliamentarians said Barak had quietly reached a deal with Sharon that whoever wins the race would take the other as his deputy.

"I am sure that there is [this agreement] -- silently," Hanan Krystal said.

Sharon was quick to deny any agreement with Barak. "We did not coordinate this," Sharon said on Sunday.

Opposition parties said they would proceed with their intention to dissolve the Knesset, and thus hold elections for parliament as well. Parliament is expected to vote on the issue on Monday.