ISRAEL: Most members of Israel's ruling Likud party want Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon to press on with talks to widen his coalition despite a vote by the Likud executive barring any such move, a poll showed yesterday.
Mr Sharon has vowed to pursue a moderate majority to see through his plan to withdraw from occupied Gaza following a humiliating rebuff last week by rightist rebels who dominate Likud's central committee.
But his wished-for partner, the dovish centre-left Labour opposition, effectively cancelled the talks by calling for early elections after Mr Sharon's setback, wary of aligning itself with a leader lacking control over his party.
However, a poll published by the Israeli daily newspaper Maariv found 46 per cent of Likud voters favoured resuming talks with Labour compared with 41 per cent against.
Among the general public, 52 per cent supported further coalition negotiations while 33 percent opposed them.
The results appeared to reflect not only consistent broad backing in recent polls for Mr Sharon's plan to "disengage" from conflict with the Palestinians in Gaza, but a Likud electorate more moderate than the party's hardline central committee.
Mr Sharon went on holiday after the party vote and returns to work tomorrow.
A poll taken in June found a majority of Likud voters in favour of Mr Sharon's plan to evacuate 8,000 settlers from Gaza while holding on to some large West Bank settlement blocs - also built on land Palestinians want for a future state.
Mr Sharon lost his governing majority in June when far-right coalition allies defected or were sacked for trying to scuttle a cabinet vote in principle for "disengagement".
That forced him into talks with Labour on a broader coalition able to assure majorities in cabinet and parliament for follow-up votes to put the Gaza withdrawal in motion.