Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's former finance minister, on Tuesday denounced his long-time rival Ariel Sharon as a "dictator" a day after the prime minister quit the Likud party to form a new centrist movement to stand in the next elections, scheduled for March 28.

Signalling what is likely to be an abrasive campaign after Mr Sharon rocked the political establishment by leaving the party he helped to found, Mr Netanyahu launched into a personal attack.