Nov. 29, 2002
Sharon wins a landslide victory over Netanyahu in the Likud leadership race (UPDATE)
 

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon won a landslide victory in the Likud leadership race over Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, exit polls showed.

Even before real results were published, Netanyahu telephoned Sharon to concede defeat, congratulate him and pledge his support against the Labor Party in the January 28 national elections.

"I am a democrat. I accept the voters' decision," Netanyahu told supporters at his headquarters in Tel Aviv. "And now we must work together to win the elections."

Sharon now faces Mitzna, who favors an immediate return to peace talks with the aim of swiftly withdrawing troops and settlers from most of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Mitzna supports a far-reaching settlement with the Palestinians and says he's willing to withdraw from some areas unilaterally if no deal is possible.

Sharon says all violence must stop before peace talks resume. And while he has surprised many by saying he, too, favors a Palestinian state eventually, albeit a restricted one, it seems unlikely he would meet the Palestinians' demands for a state in all the West Bank and Gaza as well as east Jerusalem.