Occupied Jerusalem: Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz has quit the right wing Likud party to join Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s newly formed centrist party, Kadima.
Israeli radio reported that Sharon asked Mofaz to carry on as defence minister and he agreed.
Sharon left the hardline Likud party in frustration at its refusal to support the Gaza withdrawal. Sharon says that leaving Likud will give him more opportunity to pursue a peace deal with the Palestinians.
Before his defection, Mofaz had been poised to run as leader of the Likud party.
