Peres 'on his way' to joining Sharon's new party

The Israeli Labour Party’s secretary-general, Eitan Cabel, today said the defection of Labour politician Dalia Itzik to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s new party signals that her mentor, Shimon Peres, will do the same.

“It looks like a package deal,” Cabel told Army Radio. “We spoke about their remaining (in Labour) and not defecting to another party, but apparently things were already sealed, and the talks with us were nothing but a smokescreen.”