JERUSALEM, Jan. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Likud cabinet ministers agreed on Thursday to submit their resignations on Sunday, ending a crisis with party leader Benjamin Netanyahu which threatened to overshadow the Likud primaries, local newspaper Ha'aretz reported.

    This turnabout came after Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, Health Minister Dan Naveh, Education Minister Limor Livnat and Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz refused Wednesday night to accede to Netanyahu's request to submit their resignations by Thursday, as the party's central committee members began to vote on the list of parliament candidates.

    Netanyahu vowed to withdraw the party out of the coalition government following his election as party leader late last year.The move was delayed due to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke.

    Responding to the chairman's ultimatum, Alon Ro'i, an aide to Shalom, told Israel Radio that "Likud ministers are not the chairman's employees, so no one is giving out orders to anyone else."

    Ro'i said while Shalom backed the decision to quit from the government, the manner in which Netanyahu chose to order the ministers to quit was unacceptable.

    Other associates of the ministers also attacked the move,saying Netanyahu acted out of self-interest because he wanted to be appointed opposition leader.

    Netanyahu's associates, however, said they believed the ministers would resign since they knew all along that the move was merely delayed.

    Israeli Labor Party Amir Peretz also said on Wednesday that the refrains from campaigns for the coming elections set on March 28,due to Sharon's hospitalization, was over.

    Sharon was admitted to Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital last week for a major stroke, and now he remains in serious but stable condition.

    Netanyahu became leader of the Likud after Sharon bolted the party in November to found the centrist Kadima party, which is poised to lead in the March general elections even without Sharon.   Enditem