Ariel Sharon is on course to win Israel's election, opinion polls indicated today in an initial boost for the prime minister a day after he left his rebellious right-wing Likud to establish a centrist party.
Israeli media said officials had agreed to hold the early election on March 28.
Lawmakers were discussing a resolution to approve the date the media reported had been agreed by President Moshe Katsav, the parliament speaker and state attorney-general.
In a move that could reshape Israeli politics for years to come, Mr Sharon bolted the party he co-founded three decades ago, saying he could not push for peace with the Palestinians while "wasting time" battling far-right rivals in the Likud.
And the opinion polls forecast his big political gamble could pay off, giving him 30-33 seats in the 120-member parliament, enough to virtually ensure him a third term.
Mr Sharon hopes to draw voters from the Likud, centre-left Labour and centrist Shinui parties, tapping into popular support for a Gaza pullout completed in September and his tough military response to a Palestinian uprising that began in 2000.
