Defense Minister Quits Likud, Joins Sharon
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Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz followed Prime Minister Ariel Sharon out of the Likud Party and into Sharon’s new Kadima party in the run-up to a March general election.
Mofaz is popular among many Israelis for his handling of a five-year Palestinian uprising, but opinion polls had predicted he would lose a Likud leadership race Dec. 19 to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Sharon quit Likud over a rebellion by hawkish legislators who deemed his pullout from the Gaza Strip a surrender to Palestinian militants. Mofaz cited a sense of solidarity as the reason for his defection.
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