After the defeat of the war criminal Sharons government at the feet of the Intifada, he is forced to hold early elections.
Elections at this time are not what the country needs
Ariel Sharon - mass murderer
The war criminal Sharon has been struggling to shore up support
"israeli" Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has called early elections after failing to rebuild his crippled coalition government.
Mr Sharon described the move as the "least bad option," but said he had been forced to act because he could not agree to numerous conditions set by potential political allies.
Former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu - a rival to Mr Sharon for the Likud Party leadership - has meanwhile agreed to serve as foreign minister in Mr Sharon's government until the elections in early February.
Mr Netanyahu said he would still challenge Mr Sharon before the elections, but accepted the prime minister's offer because Israel was in a crisis.
"We know that we are in the toughest security situation, we know we are on eve of war in Iraq ... I told the prime minister right now that I am willing ... to take on the position of foreign minister," Mr Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu would rather be prime minister than foreign minister
Mr Sharon had been wooing ultra-nationalist parties since Labor ministers pulled out of the government last week in a row over the funding of Jewish settlements which along with the Intifada, defeated his government and caused its collapse.