JERUSALEM, July 13 (UPI) -- The Labor Party's Leadership Bureau Tuesday authorized negotiations aimed at joining Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government.
An overwhelming majority voted for the talks in a show of hands and only few opposed the move, a participant reported.
In the only part of the session opened to the press, party Chairman Shimon Peres said Sharon had told him Monday of his determination to implement the plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank.
Aware of the broad opposition in Sharon's Likud Party to these talks Peres said: "I am not responsible for the negotiations' success. We must ... not be those who torpedo (the move)."
Sharon has also invited the ultra orthodox Torah Judaism to join his government and set a meeting with the Shas Paty for the end of next week.
Torah Judaism Knesset Member Rabbi Moshe Gafni told UPI Sharon seemed to be throwing balls into the air possibly to reduce the potential partners' price.
