Editing Shimon Peres (section)

====Vice Prime Minister (2005)====
Peres led the Labor Party into a coalition with Sharon once more, reaching an agreement the end of 2004, and entering the party into the [[thirtieth government of Israel]] in January 2005. This came after the Sharon's support of "disengagement" from Gaza presented a diplomatic program that Labor could support.<ref name = CV /> Sharon made Peres [[Deputy of the Prime Minister of Israel|vice prime minister]].
[[File:Shimon Peres 2005.jpg|thumb|Peres in 2005]]

As interim party leader, Peres favored putting off the elections for as long as possible. He claimed that an early election would jeopardize both the September 2005 Gaza withdrawal plan and the standing of the party in a national unity government with Sharon. However, the majority pushed for an earlier date, as younger members of the party, among them [[Amir Peretz]], [[Ophir Pines-Paz]] and [[Isaac Herzog]], overtook established leaders such as [[Binyamin Ben-Eliezer]] and [[Haim Ramon]] in the party ballot to divide up government portfolios.<ref name="2005nov1"/>