In Israel, sources close to political veteran Shimon Peres say he’ll leave the Labour Party to back a new party formed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Peres lost the Labour Party leadership to former union head Amir Peretz earlier this month. The support of Peres would be a major boost for Sharon, who left his own Likud party last week to form the new party Kadima — the Hebrew word for “Forward.” Kadima released its party platform Monday. It says Israel will retain all of the major settlement blocks in the occupied West Bank.