Sharon on course to win election

With an early election likely in February or March, the surveys gave Sharon 30-33 seats in the 120-member parliament, enough to make his still-unnamed party the biggest faction in a governing coalition and virtually ensure him a third term.

Sharon, in a move that could reshape Israeli politics for years to come, bolted the party he co-founded three decades ago, saying he could not push for peace with the Palestinians while "wasting time" battling far-right rivals in the Likud.

However, he gave no ground in his bedrock demand, part of a US-backed peace "road map" whose terms both sides have failed to fulfil, that the Palestinian Authority disarm militants before talks on statehood can resume after five years of bloodshed.

"We will work to set the permanent border of the nation while insisting on the dismantling of terrorist groups," Sharon said.

Appearing to be in high spirits, the 77-year-old ex-general popularly known as "the Bulldozer" ruled out further unilateral Israeli withdrawals from occupied land following a Gaza pullout completed in September that split the Likud.