Labor members want Peres to back pullout from opposition

Israeli Labor member of Knesset(Parliament), Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, on Wednesday tried to persuade party chairman Shimon Peres to accept a compromise that will assure Labor support for the disengagement plan, Jerusalem Post reported.

According to the compromise hammered out by senior Knesset party members including Ben-Eliezer, "Labor will support disengagement unconditionally from the opposition," said the report.

The compromise proposal also says that if Prime Minister Ariel Sharon approaches the Labor Party with a proposal for a unity government, "the executive committee of the Labor Party will reconvene to discuss the proposal."

Peres on Tuesday worked on a different compromise, aimed at reducing tension between himself and party "rebels" who demanded that he destroy a possible entry to the coalition for Labor, and set in motion plans for primaries to choose a new leader.

Senior Labor member Avraham Shochat told Israel Radio that Sharon would be unable to form a government with Labor in the wake of his defeat in recent Likud Central Committee vote on the matter.

"I want a government with the Likud so that we can implement disengagement. I also think it's important and essential. But Idon't think the prime minister is able to do that after receiving the blow in the Likud Central Committee," said Shochat.

Source: Xinhua