Labor Party officials expected Prime Minister Shimon Peres to announce as early as the end of this week that he was moving forward Israel’s national elections from October to May.
Peres held consultations this week with senior Labor officials who have been examining the legal and technical issues linked to holding early elections and who have been coordinating with other political parties on the matter.
Israel Radio reported that Peres was likely to announce before the end of the week that he was calling early elections, most likely for May 28.
“That looks like the date,” Interior Minister Haim Ramon, who had been involved in the consultations, told reporters.
It was widely expected that Peres would make such an announcement after U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher ended this week’s round of shuttle diplomacy between Jerusalem and Damascus.
Peres has been leading Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu in the polls.
For the first time, Israelis will directly elect the prime minister, in addition to a separate vote for the members of the Knesset, who will be chosen from party lists.
Netanyahu announced Wednesday that he and Rafael Eitan, the leader of the right-wing Tsomet Party, had finalized their agreement to form a joint list in the upcoming elections.
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