Israel returned to politics Thursday as Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon remained comatose a week after a massive stroke, with his allies jockeying for position and his main rival ordering his party’s ministers to quit the Cabinet. The central committee of Sharon’s forsaken Likud party was expected to choose a list of candidates Thursday for March 28 national elections, with polls showing the party losing more than half its strength from the last vote — when Sharon was the leader. The same polls show the prime minister’s new party, Kadima, maintaining a huge lead despite — or perhaps helped by — his illness. Full Story
