Analysis: Ariel Sharon's next move

By Lucy Williamson
BBC News, Jerusalem

Ariel Sharon has won the vote, and with it, six months to get his house in order.

Ariel Sharon has popular appeal but trouble within his party

Less than two weeks after Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, he has narrowly defeated a bid by rebels in his Likud party to force him into an early leadership contest against his rival Binyamin Netanyahu.

Now Mr Sharon has called on his party to unite.

In April, the leadership contest will go ahead as planned. Before then, Mr Sharon needs to choose one of three options.

Firstly - and least likely - he could gracefully retire from politics, having defeated a leadership challenge and successfully completed the withdrawal from Gaza.

Secondly, he could leave Likud and form a new party, more in tune with his current political vision.

But the option he is expected to choose is to stay and fight for the leadership of the Likud.

Fresh violence

To be confident of doing this, he will need to win back the rebellious right wing of his party.

Binyamin Netanyahu is unlikely to give up his leadership ambitions

The Likud is still suffering the deep divisions caused by the prime minister's withdrawal plan. Mr Sharon may be hoping that, with the pullout now completed, time will heal some of those rifts.

But that could depend on what happens in Gaza over the next few months.

Already, less than two weeks after the last Israeli soldiers withdrew, a familiar-looking battle has developed between Palestinian militant groups and Israeli forces.

Over the past few days, Palestinian militants have fired a barrage of rockets from Gaza into southern Israel.

Israel has responded with nightly missiles at buildings and roads used by them, arrested hundreds of wanted Palestinians in the West Bank, and resumed its policy in Gaza of targeted killings against militants it considers a security threat.

The prime minister had said the withdrawal would bring Israel greater security, but to many in his party, it does not look that way at all.

Voters' favourite

His rival, the former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, said on Sunday night that Mr Sharon had made Gaza into a "highway for terror".

Winning over Mr Netanyahu's supporters will mean proving him wrong.

But if the prime minister decides he wants to stay on as leader of the party, he has another card up his sleeve too - the Israeli voting public.

He scores well in approval ratings - better than Mr Netanyahu.

And even if some in Likud would prefer the prime minister's right-wing rival, they may not want to lose seats in parliament by voting out one of their biggest electoral assets - Mr Sharon.