Likud right-winger joins Kadima

Mr Hanegbi is a controversial figure

The acting chairman of Israel's right-wing Likud party has left to join Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new centrist party, Kadima.

Tzahi Hanegbi, also a minister without portfolio, said Israel needed Mr Sharon to stay on as prime minister.

"I will not be able to stand behind any of those who are running for leadership of the Likud," he added.

Mr Hanegbi is the first figure from the right of Likud to leave the party to join Kadima.

As a cabinet member, he voted against the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza earlier this year.

A controversial figure, he has been dogged by accusations of ethical impropriety - all of which he has denied.

"I believe that when hard decisions are needed...[Mr Sharon] is the man I can trust," Mr Hanegbi said.

Disappeared

Agriculture Minister Israel Katz, one of the candidates for the Likud leadership, shrugged off Mr Hanegbi's decision to quit the party.

"All those who left the Likud in the past failed," he told Israeli army radio.

"At best they succeeded in returning to the Likud. In the worst case they disappeared off the political map."

Recent opinion polls suggest Likud could suffer heavy losses in next year's Israeli general elections.

A poll in Wednesday's Haaretz newspaper found Kadima was on course to emerge as the largest party with 39 seats after the March 28 election.