Israel's bumptious former leader Benjamin Netanyahu, the most likely challenger to embattled Prime Minister Ehud Barak if elections are held next year, kept the nation in suspense Monday about his political ambitions.
"I have not yet made my decision, but I am close and I will announce it very soon because our situation is one that demands a decision," Netanyahu told reporters on his return to Israel from a lecture tour in the United States.
Opinion polls say the former leader of the right-wing Likud party would easily beat Barak, whose 17-month-old government has been brought to its knees by two months of deadly Israeli-Palestinian violence.
Netanyahu, who is also favored by the Israeli public over current Likud chairman Ariel Sharon, said he would first consult with his family and close aides and other players on the Israeli political scene.
"I won't make a decision in a matter of days, but it won't be more than a few months," he added.
The Israeli parliament last week voted in favor of a Likud-sponsored bill calling for the dissolution of the 120-member Knesset and early elections which political commentators expect could be held in May.
The 51-year-old Netanyahu was trounced out of office by Barak in May 1999 after voters became disillusioned with the freezing of the peace process with the Palestinians and bitter internal strife under his rule.
Without a majority in parliament for five months, Barak's only hope of victory is likely to be if he is able to clinch a peace deal with the Palestinians, but parliament on Monday backed a bill that would limit his powers to sign an accord.
The bill, sponsored by MPs from Likud and the far-right National Union, would prevent a Prime Minister who does not command a majority in parliament from signing any international accords but requires another three readings before taking effect.
A political comeback by Netanyahu, who became Israel's youngest leader in 1996, has been on the cards since attorney general Eliyakim Rubinstein announced in September that he and his wife Sara would not be prosecuted for fraud or corruption.
The former first couple, never very far from controversy, had been under investigation for allegedly keeping gifts presented when Netanyahu was in office, in violation of Israeli law, and for promising a Jerusalem contractor he would be paid out of the public purse for private work.
Supporters of "Bibi" Netanyahu plan a mass welcome later Monday at a football stadium hosting a match between Jerusalem Betar, a team synonymous with the former leader, and football league leaders Maccabi Haifa.
His return came as Sharon, the hardline former defense minister blamed by the Palestinians for sparking the current bloodletting by his controversial visit to a disputed Jerusalem site, again ruled out joining forces with Barak to form a national unity government.
"I always believed that unity was important but unfortunately Barak has caused that idea to collapse and it is no longer on the agenda," Sharon told army radio.
Political commentators say Netanyahu may wait until elections are certain to go ahead before revealing his hand.
Barak, the former army chief who has been without a majority since a mass defection from his coalition on the eve of July's failed Camp David peace summit, has come under mounting criticism over his handling of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis as well as renewed internal feuding.
However, at least two political parties have said they may vote against the early elections bill in future if Israel abolishes the system of directly electing the prime minister.
Both the ultra-Orthodox Jewish party Shas and the staunchly secular Shinui are anxious that the change would sharply reduce their influence in parliament.
But several opposition parties meanwhile were backing away from moves to change the system.
"What is essential is that the elections take place sooner, preferably in March, said leading Likud MP Limor Livnat, who was communications minister under Netanyahu. -- (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
