It saves him. Before this happened Sharon's party had more then twice as many seats in the polls as anyone else. The Likud would have been relegated to the opposition. With Sharon out of the picture everything changes. Sharon's party was a 1 man show. Now, the new party will most probably lose at least half of their projected seats with many voters going back to the Likud. The Likud with Netanyahu as it's leader could very well win the next election.