Ariel Sharon informed Israel's parliament today that he had formed a governing national unity coalition and was ready to be sworn in as prime minister on tomorrow, the legislature's secretariat said.
A legal adviser for Sharon's Likud party handed the Knesset Secretariat official papers sealing coalition agreements with seven political parties.
From this moment, the countdown begins and a Knesset session will open tomorrow afternoon, Knesset Secretary Arye Haan said in broadcast remarks, referring to a ceremony to swear in Sharon and his cabinet.
Sharon has sewn together a coalition controlling more than 70 seats in the 120-member Knesset, mixing the centre-left Labour Party with ultra-nationalist blocs that favour expelling Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza.
After trouncing Ehud Barak at the polls, the 73-year-old former army general announced he intended to set up a broad national unity government to tackle a Palestinian revolt that has raged since late September and revive peace talks.
