Netanyahu to challenge Sharon

2005-08-30 14:35

Jerusalem - Former Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu was to formally announce on Tuesday that he is challenging Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the leadership of the right-wing Likud party, public radio reported.

Netanyahu quit his post as finance minister at the beginning of the month in protest at the plan to pull settlers out of the Gaza Strip and four small West Bank enclaves, which was completed a week ago.

Likud's central committee is due to meet on September 25 where it is expected to set a November 22 date to hold a leadership primary vote.

While Sharon's historic Gaza pullout has enjoyed a majority of support among the Israeli public as a whole, he has not been able to win over the bulk of Likud members who rejected the project in a referendum last year.

Defeat

Polls among Likud members have given mixed results with some showing that Netanyahu should easily defeat Sharon.

The ill-concealed animosity between the two men has bubbled over since Netanyahu's resignation from the cabinet, with Sharon savaging his arch-rival in a television interview on Monday night.

Netanyahu was an "uptight and pressurable individual who panics and loses his wits", Sharon told Channel 10 television.

"Israel is a special country and to lead it one needs a level head and nerves of steel. He (Netanyahu) has neither of those," Sharon added.

With his public opinion poll ratings holding up well despite the divisions wrought by his disengagement plan, some observers have predicted that Sharon may split from Likud and form a new party.

However Sharon said he had no intention of breaking from the party.

"I was elected by the Likud and I will run on behalf of the Likud - and I believe that I will form the next government," he said.

- AFP