Ariel Sharon’s top challenger for the Israeli premiership pledged to secure a peace deal with the Palestinians. “I will act to reach a permanent settlement between Israel and the Palestinians with the utmost speed,” the new Labor Party leader, Amir Peretz, told Yediot Achronot on Sunday. “By the end of our term, a permanent settlement must be behind us.” Polls show Labor under Peretz trailing Sharon’s new Kadima Party in the upcoming March 28 general election. But political analysts speculate that Peretz, a former trade union chief, would be boosted should he manage to refocus the Israeli electorate on the country’s economic woes. Peretz has hinted he would order sweeping withdrawals from the West Bank as part of a peace deal with the Palestinians.
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