JERUSALEM, Nov. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Israeli lawmakers overwhelmingly approved dissolving the Knesset (parliament) on Monday evening as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon quitted the ruling right-wing Likud to form a new party and called for early elections.

    Some 80 of the 120 members of the Knesset voted for the dissolution of the parliament, local newspaper Ha'aretz reported.

    President Moshe Katsav said he would accept the lawmakers' decision to dissolve the Knesset and hold elections in March 2006,eight month ahead of schedule.

    Earlier in the day, Sharon asked Katsav to dissolve the Knesset and call early elections.

    Also on Monday evening, Sharon formally announced at a press conference that he had left the Likud party and formed a new party called National Responsibility, a move that will redraw the Jewishstate's political map and raise uncertainty for its future dealing with the Palestinians.

    He said the Likud could no longer lead Israel to its national goals. Staying within the Likud, he said, was a waste of his time and he preferred to serve the nation instead of involving himself in political bickering.

    Sharon said his decision to leave was fraught with risks. He described his new party as "liberal," adding it would give Israel new hope for peace.

    Sharon said he started seriously to think about leaving the party after Likud hardliners opposed to his disengagement plan and thwarted his effort earlier this month to appoint two new Cabinet ministers.

    The Gaza pullout created a "historic opportunity," he said. "I will not allow anyone to squander it."

    Sharon's bold decision was seen as a landmark of his transformation from a hardliner to a moderate politician and an effort to hold on his set policy in peacemaking with the Palestinians following the successful pullout from the Gaza Strip.

    One opinion poll showed Monday that an alliance of Sharon's new party with the moderate Labor and leftist parties would command a comfortable majority in the 120-member parliament against a smaller but more hawkish Likud led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    Israeli left-wing Meretz-Yahad faction described Sharon's decision to quit Likud and form a new party as a "real opportunity" for the peace camp.

    "This is a real opportunity for a coalition headed by the peace camp, including former Likud members who understood that for 38 years they had deceived the nation and themselves," Meretz-Yahad' s leader Yossi Beilin told Israel Radio.

    He called Sharon's resignation "a big victory for supporters of sharing the land (with the Palestinians)."

    But the far-right Likud members, who strongly opposed the Gaza pullout and vowed to punish Sharon for the withdrawal, have downplayed the significance of Sharon's decision to leave the party he founded some three decades ago.

    Likud Knesset member Ayoub Kara said Sharon's departure would mark an improvement for the Likud, which had "lost its way under Sharon's leadership."

    Kara said he was confident that the Likud would keep its power and influence in the government even without Sharon.

    Meanwhile, Sharon's aides were quoted by Ha'aretz as saying that Sharon is likely to favor more withdrawals from occupied Palestinian lands if he wins re-election,

    Sharon's decision to leave the Likud party indicates his intention to carry out far-reaching moves in what would be his final term as prime minister should he win re-election, the aides said.

    The prime minister's departure from Likud shows that he is likely to favor the evacuation of most or all isolated settlementsin the West Bank, the aides added.

    If Sharon had no intention of going beyond the pullout from the Gaza Strip, the aides said, he would have stayed in the Likud "and be on the safe side."

    In Washington, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said his country will continue to involve itself in the Middle East peace process.

    "We're going to continue to be deeply engaged and working with the parties," McCormack said when asked about the political turmoil in Israel.

    The Palestinians, however, assumed a wait-and-see attitude.

    In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Deputy Prime Minister Nabil Shaath said the Palestinian leadership was "watching carefully the unfolding political developments to see its consequences on the peace process." Enditem