Israeli Labor Party Calls for New General Elections

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, October 30, 2002

Israeli Labor Party Calls for New General Elections

Israeli Labor Party Chairman and Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer on Tuesday called on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to meet with him in order to set a date for new general elections.

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Israeli Labor Party Chairman and Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer on Tuesday called on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to meet with him in order to set a date for new general elections.

"I intend to lead this battle to the end," Ben-Eliezer told his supporters, adding "from here I call (on the prime minister) to sit with me so we can agree on a date for the elections."

"We can talk about March, April -- whatever he wants. Then we will take it to the people," he said.

Earlier in the day, Ben Eliezer, who has called for transfer of the funding intended for settlements in the budget of 2003 to the weaker sectors of the society, said that if no compromise can be reached between Sharon's right-wing Likud and the Labor Party, his Labor ministers will hand in resignations before a vote on Wednesday.

On Tuesday morning, a Labor Party member Effi Oshaya said Ben Eliezer would impose party discipline to ensure a unified party position on the budget issue.

Labor Party Secretary-General Ophir Pines-Paz said the rival Likud party's call for Labor's stay in the government is "proof of Sharon fears of being left alone in the government, because he will be exposed for what he is, an extreme right-winger."

The Likud claims the gaps in negotiations between Likud and the Labor Party over the budget are narrow, and the prime minister's associates are blaming Labor for an "artificial crisis" designed tohelp Ben Eliezer in his primary race.

A senior official from Likud party said earlier that there would be no choice but to call early elections within 90 days if the Labour Party walk out of government and voted against the budget.

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