Israeli online daily Haaretz published a poll on Friday which revealed that the majority of Labor party members want Sharon [Likud] to head their party list in the coming Knesset elections in 2006.

The Labor party in Israel, headed by Shimon Peres, is considered the main competitor to the Likud party.

Haaretz poll revealed that Sharon is not only gaining popularity among the general public in Israel, but also among members of the Labor Party.

The poll which was conducted at the beginning of the week revealed that a large majority of Labor Party members want Sharon to head their party list in the next elections, Haaretz reported.

The poll was conducted by surveying 575 members of the Labor party; 46% of them said that they believe that the Labor party should join an elections list headed by Sharon.

76.5% said that they believe that the Labor party should remain in Sharon’s government; only 15.8% supported the position of Amir Peres who calls for leaving Sharon’s government.

Amir Peres, Histadrut labor federation chairman, strongly supports leaving Sharon’s government.

73% of Arab members of the Labor party said that the Labor party should remain in coalition with Sharon.

Number of Labor party members in Israel is approximately 89.000.