Earlier Netanyahu told MPs he now backed the Opposition motion calling for the poll early next year. ``I propose new elections, at a suitable date,'' he said.

In black and white, the move sees Netanyahu choosing the lesser of two evils in opting for early elections rather than risking a censure motion in parliament. Initial polls, which may be misleading since they show more than 12 per cent undecided, have him losing against both of his two most likely rivals, Labour party leader Ehud Barak and centrist Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, the former army chief of staff. But, the advantage to Netanyahu in going for elections more than a year ahead of time is that his government can continue normally in the meanwhile, a period of between three and six months. Even more important for him is that he ispreserving his own future, with a good chance that he will go into the elections still as leader of the nationalist camp. Had he allowed things to get so out of hand as to be pushed out of power in a parliamentary vote, he would have lost face and probably his position in the leadership of his Likud party as well. Netanyahu has demonstrated impressive survival skills in the two-and-a-half years in power, but he has reached the end of the road.

His government almost fell two weeks ago, when he only managed to escape a motion of no confidence by a clever use of procedural rules. His coalition has melted away at both ends. The far right has abandoned him, accusing him of killing the dream of a `Greater Israel' by signing the Wye River accord with the Palestinians in October, which envisaged a partial military withdrawal from the West Bank. The centre right, on the other hand, has been angered by intransigence in the peace process, in particular after he suspended implementation of the Wye agreement in a vainattempt to placate the extreme right.

Any idea of forming a government of national unity with Labour have foundered on Barak's repeated refusal to agree. By bringing the election date forward, Netanyahu is also trying to undermine the chances of Lipkin-Shahak, his most dangerous rival according to opinion polls.

An early election date will give the former army chief less time to form the `centre party' he is said to be planning with a view to standing in the election as its leader. Another good reason for speeding up the elections is the deteriorating economic situation in Israel, where growth in the last quarter was the lowest for ten years, unemployment has reached 8.4 percent.