Preparing for Israel's vote: Barak, Peres, Meretz leader look for unity

Peres candidacy for prime minister hangs in balance

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The question of whether Shimon Peres would step into the race for Israeli prime minister remained unanswered on Thursday as Peres and current Prime Minister Ehud Barak met to discuss the former prime minister's participation in the Mideast peace process.

Yossi Sarid, leader of the left-wing Meretz Party, was also at the meeting.

Peres, who needs the backing of 10 members of the parliament in order to enter the race, had sought the backing of Meretz for his candidacy -- which has 10 Knesset seats.

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But with the deadline for entering the race to expire at midnight on Thursday (2200 GMT), Meretz delayed a decision and urged Barak to include Peres in his efforts at peace.

"I proposed that Ehud Barak and Shimon Peres return together, hitch up together for the peace process," Sarid told a news conference after the meeting of the party leadership.

Barak forced a special election when he resigned on December 10 amid increasing criticism over his handling of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process and ability to control the ongoing violence in the region. Barak said he would stand for re-election in what he hopes will be a referendum for his strategy.

But Barak trails right-wing Likud party chairman Ariel Sharon in polls ahead of the February 6 vote, and many Barak supporters fear a Peres candidacy would assure Sharon of the win.

Peres aides have said that the Nobel Peace Prize laureate believes he can defeat Barak in the first round of elections and go on to defeat Sharon in a runoff. Opinion polls are showing Peres would have a good chance of victory in a head-to-head race with Sharon.

Peres, 77, shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat . He was narrowly defeated for prime minister in 1996 by Benjamin Netanyahu, who in turn lost to Barak in 1999.

Netanyahu had been considered the front-runner for the February election, but he refused earlier this week to participate unless the Knesset dissolved itself and called a general election.

CNN Jerusalem Bureau Chief Mike Hanna contributed to this report.

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The Nobel Peace Prize 1994
Meretz Party (In Hebrew)
Knesset, The Israeli Parliament
Likud
United Nations
  • Question of Palestine
U.S. State Department
  • Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
  • Middle East Peace Process
The EU and the Middle East Peace Process
Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Palestinian National Authority
Israel Defense Forces
Palestine Red Crescent Society

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