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Peres May Join Sharon in "Kadima"

Speculation mounted Tuesday in the Israeli capital of Jerusalem that Shimon Peres, the longtime pillar of Israel`s Labor Party, plans to break ranks and join Prime Minister Ariel Sharon`s new centrist movement. The departure of Peres, 82, from Labor, which Sharon allies speculated could come Wednesday, would continue a broad realignment of Israel`s political parties prompted in part by Sharon`s decision to withdraw Jewish settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip earlier this year.

Peres, who lost the Labor leadership vote earlier this month to union leader Amir Peretz (who had pledged not to run against Mr. Peres), was traveling in Spain on Tuesday and did not comment specifically about his plans. Sharon left the Likud Party last week to form the new movement, known as "Kadima". Sharon has moved quickly to establish "Kadima", which means "Forward" in Hebrew, as the party most capable of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The newly drafted party platform explicitly calls for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, a goal of the U.S.-backed plan known as the "road map," which Sharon has said he would follow in seeking to revive a dormant peace process. The platform also calls for Israel to keep its major West Bank settlement blocs and supports a unified Jerusalem in any final peace agreement.