Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak reiterated Wednesday his preference for forming a government of national unity with the right-wing opposition Likud party over holding early elections.
But he said he was ready for those elections.
"I am for a government of national unity (because) early elections in the current situation are not in the interest of the country," Barak said in an interview on public television.
"Nevertheless, I am ready for elections, the most likely dates for which seem to be between the end of May and the beginning of June," he said, adding that his Israel One bloc would win.
Barak had announced in parliament on November 28 that snap elections would be held next year.
On Tuesday, Barak had said near the West Bank town of Nablus "the situation demands a national unity government but this cannot be forced on anybody."
"It depends on the goodwill, understanding and lucidity of potential partners," he added.
On a nearly weekly basis recently, Likud leader Ariel Sharon has rebuffed Barak's appeals for a national unity government and called on the prime minister to abandon his policy of "concessions" to Palestinians.
Asked about that, Barak told his TV audience he considered such a demand unreasonable.
"Certainly, all the understandings reached should be re-examined, including those of (the failed) Camp David (summit), but it is not reasonable to place conditions on a given government, as if we were abandoning the peace process," he said.
Sharon opposes any concessions to the Palestinians and accuses Barak of having made them to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at Camp David.
Barak and Sharon met Tuesday, officially to discuss "security matters."
Israel's main political parties failed Wednesday to agree on a date for the next general elections.
Parliament last week paved the way for early elections and the dissolution of the 120-member Knesset amid widespread criticism of Barak's handling of the 10-week wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence -- JERUSALEM (AFP)
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