Netanyahu could announce his resignation as a Member of Parliament at a meeting of the central committee of his right-wing Likud party on Thursday when members are due to consider making outgoing Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon the caretaker leader of the party, the radio said.

Netanyahu announced on Monday that he was stepping down as leader of the Likud Party in the immediate aftermath of a devastating general election defeat at the hands of Labour leader Ehud Barak. Likud saw its parliamentary representation fall from 32 seats in the previous Knesset to 19 in the next parliament.

Immediately after the scale of the defeat became apparent, Netanyahu said that he was going to take a ``break'' from political life.

According to the radio, Netanyahu, 49, could return to business life or else could write his memoirs for which he has receivedseveral lucrative offers from publishers in the Unted States.