Israel plunged back into election politics today with Ariel Sharon's main rival ordering his party's ministers to quit the cabinet as the prime minister remained unconscious after a massive stroke.
Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital, where the 77-year-old leader has been unconscious and in critical condition since a brain haemorrhage on January 4th, said the latest brain scan showed slight progress - traces of bleeding in his brain had been absorbed and there was no need for further draining of fluid.
Three cabinet members from the right-wing Likud party led by Benjamin Netanyahu left the ruling coalition, going ahead with a move which had been put on hold after Sharon's brain haemorrhage last week. The fourth was due to resign his post on Friday.
The resignations will have no effect on the viability of Israel 's caretaker government, headed by interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, but added to a sense that the country was getting back to politics as usual before the March 28th general election.
A week into a health crisis that has cast a pall over Israeli-Palestinian peace prospects, doctors said Sharon was displaying basic motor reflexes as his anaesthetic was gradually reduced.
Medical sources said doctors were trying to decide when to wean Sharon from all sedation to rouse him from an induced coma and assess the extent of damage to his brain.
Signalling Washington's intent to keep Middle East diplomacy from sliding into limbo, President George W. Bush telephoned Olmert to express solidarity.
"Bush said he intends to continue to work towards realising the joint vision he shared with Sharon for promoting the peace process," the prime minister's office said in a statement.
US and Israeli officials said Olmert could be invited to the White House as early as next month.
Even with Mr Sharon off medication, it could be days before doctors can assess the impairment to his faculties. With his hospital stay expected to last months, Sharon is given little chance of returning to public life.