Israeli Defence Minister quits Likud to join Sharon

Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz has quit the Likud party to join Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, another aftershock from the political earthquake Sharon set off when he formed his new centrist party.

The defection yesterday of Mofaz, who was one of the most prominent remaining Likud leaders, further marginalised the increasingly hard-line party and gave Sharon added momentum as he prepared to begin his campaign for the March 28 elections.

Mofaz’s decision came after weekend polls showed him badly trailing former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom in the race to become Likud’s candidate for prime minister, but he insisted the party’s direction, and not the polls, were what influenced his decision.

“The Likud party ... is growing away from me and, to my sorrow, is moving in the direction of what we call the right-wing extremists of the political map,” Mofaz said.

”When it became clear that the Likud movement was becoming an extremist party, I decided that this was not my way.”

Sharon told aides yesterday that Mofaz had called him a day earlier to tell him he intended to leave Likud.

“I suggested he join the Kadima movement and continue serving as defence minister in the next government. He answered affirmatively, and I’m glad,” one of the aides participating in the meeting quoted Sharon as saying.

Sharon formed the centrist Kadima Party last month after concluding that the so-called Likud “rebels” who tried to torpedo his Gaza withdrawal plan would work to block any future peace moves with the Palestinians.

The prime minister’s exit from Likud left the party, which dominated Israeli politics for much of the last three decades, in tatters.

Many of Likud’s parliamentarians and virtually all its top Cabinet ministers followed Sharon, including – most embarrassingly for Likud – acting party chairman Tzachi Hanegbi, who bolted for Kadima last week, saying Sharon had the best chance to make peace with the Palestinians.

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