Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon faced off against rival Benjamin Netanyahu for the Likud party leadership in a vote on Thursday. Opinion polls put the hawkish Sharon far ahead of his more right-wing rival as ballot stations opened nationwide for the Likud's 305,000 members. The winner will become the favorite to be prime minister after a general election set for January 28.

Likud members began voting at 10 a.m. (3 a.m. EST). The ballots close 12 hours later (3 p.m. EST) and the result is expected around 12:30 a.m. on Friday (5:30 p.m. EST Thursday).

Victory would be the first step for Sharon on the path to retaining the prime minister's post that he has held for almost two years, despite failing to bring Israelis promised security.

Reeling from waves of Palestinian resistance bombings, Israelis have lurched to the right since the uprising began in September 2000. This has strengthened Likud and means the center-left Labour Party has an uphill struggle to do well in the January poll.
SHARON BUOYED
The latest poll, commissioned by Army Radio and reported on Thursday, put Sharon's lead at 22 percentage points -- despite 53-year-old Netanyahu's attempts to portray Sharon's leadership as disastrous for national morale.

"Despair is eating away at every segment of society," Netanyahu, who was prime minister in 1996-99, told the mass circulation Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

Palestinians would not welcome either man's victory because they see both as hard-liners standing in the way of peace.

They have made clear they would prefer dovish Labour Party leader Amram Mitzna to be Israel's prime minister as he has offered to reopen peace negotiations without preconditions and unilaterally withdraw Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip.

PHOTO CAPTION

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon casts his vote for the Likud party leadership in the southern Israeli town Sderot November 28, 2002.. (Reinhard Krause/Reuter