Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon quit his right-wing Likud party on Monday to lead a new centrist party called National Responsibility.
Sharon has asked President Moshe Katsav to dissolve the Parliament and order fresh elections, in March 2006.
With this move, Sharon has torn apart the movement he helped found, to break from the far-right Likud members who opposed his withdrawal from the occupied Gaza Strip.
The 77-year-old's gamble is possibly the biggest of a military and political career built on risk-taking and polls indicate it is uncertain that he can turn the popularity of the Gaza pullout into an electoral victory.
"I call on all those who believe in this to join us and move forward with us. We are embarking on a new path - one that will provide Israel with genuine hope for stability, national responsibility, personal security, stable government, economic prosperity, tranquility and peace," Sharon said.
"This is what the people of Israel need today. This is why I was elected, and I open myself up to the judgment of the voters today," he added.
Fourteen sitting MPs are expected to defect to Sharon, who says that peace with the Palestinians and Israel's long-term security will be among the key issues addressed by his new party.
Sharon upset many hardliners within Likud over his disengagement plan, carried out earlier this year.
Under the plan, Israel unilaterally withdrew its settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.
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