JERUSALEM Ñ Israel will hold parliamentary elections on Feb. 4 in
what could be the shortest campaign in the nation's history.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who failed to form a coalition majority,
requested and obtained approval for early parliamentary elections. Sharon
blamed his rival, former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and his allies
for refusing the prime minister's offer to become foreign minister.
"The objections against joining the goverment led me to choose the
responsible and least worst of the options Ñ the disbanding of the
Fifteenth Knesset," Sharon told a news conference on Tuesday.
Earlier, Sharon informed President Moshe Katsav of his difficulties in
forming a coalition majority. Katsav agreed to disband the Knesset and set
early elections. Elections had been scheduled for October 2003.
Katsav said the forthcoming elections must be brief and avoid massive
campaign spending. "We are talking about early February, less than three
months from today," the president said.
The decision to head for early elections came four days after the Labor
Party left the national unity government. Sharon appointed new ministers and
his government survived three no-confidence motions on late Monday.
On Nov. 19, the Labor Party, with the largest number of seats in the
current parliament, will hold primaries. Outgoind Defense Minister Binyamin
Ben-Eliezer faces two opponents Ñ Haifa Mayor Amram Mitzna and Haim Ramon,
the chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
A poll taken last month showed Sharon's Likud Party winning the largest
number of seats in the next Knesset elections. Netanyahu is expected to
challenge Sharon as head of the party.
