Well, my understanding of the Israeli government's structure is even weaker than I'd suspected...

Sharon courts ultranationalists in wake of Labor quitting his coalition (Wash. Post)

Apparently Sharon is not likely to call for early elections, which will put Israel even further to the right for the next 9 months...

[edited to cover my ignorance]

[ October 31, 2002: Message edited by: Bill W ]

What a mess! And he faces a challenge from Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been scheming to reassume power for some time. The Labor Party does appear to have used the settlement funding as a pretext for leaving the government. Sad to say, but they have no good plans for how to resolve the stalement, and no chance at all of gaining control of the government right now.

I think Sharon is going to win the upcoming elections, and Likud is going to retain its seats, perhaps even increase them.

The Labor candidate, Mitzna, seems very interesting, but I don't think he has a chance to win right now, especially given his offer of unconditional negotiations with the likes of Yassir Arafat, and the continuing tide of bombings like yesterday's Hamas horrorshow that killed 10 children (11 people total) and injured far more.