Israelis will go to the polls to choose a new government within four months after Ariel Sharon, prime minister, reluctantly bowed to pressure from Amir Peretz, the new Labour challenger, to hold early elections.

At a meeting on Thursday, Mr Peretz left it to the prime minister to set an election date between late February and late March. Israeli media speculated that, having failed to fend off elections that were not due until November, Mr Sharon would probably choose the earliest possible date.