Sharon seeks opposition help

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has approached the opposition Labour Party with a tentative offer to join his shaky coalition, in hopes of avoiding early elections and saving his Gaza withdrawal plan.

The contacts were Sharon’s latest attempt to extricate himself from an ongoing coalition crisis over the 2005 state budget and his plan to pull out of Gaza and four West Bank settlements next year.

Labour’s inclusion in the government would greatly improve Sharon’s chances of going ahead with the withdrawal.

Sharon lost a parliamentary majority in the summer, when hawkish supporters quit over the Gaza plan. His troubles grew this week when the secular-rights Shinui Party, his biggest coalition partner, threatened to pull out of the government over budget concessions to religious parties.

A first budget vote is set for tomorrow, and Shinui said it would vote against the spending plan, indicating it was quitting the coalition.

Sharon as saying that “if Shinui leaves the coalition on Wednesday, I will immediately turn to Labour with an offer to join the coalition”.

Sharon’s Likud Party has already sent out feelers, a Labour official said today.

Senior officials in both parties suggested today that a partnership is possible.

Labour supports the Gaza withdrawal, and its inclusion in the coalition would significantly boost Sharon’s chances of implementing the plan.