Netanyahu Sworn in as Israel's Foreign Minister

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, November 07, 2002

Netanyahu Sworn in as Israel's Foreign Minister

Binyamin Netanyahu, former Israeli prime minister, was sworn in Wednesday as foreign minister in the caretaker government led by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

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Netanyahu Sworn in as Israel's Foreign Minister

Binyamin Netanyahu, former Israeli prime minister, was sworn in Wednesday as foreign minister in the caretaker government led by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The Israeli Knesset, or parliament, approved Wednesday afternoon Netanyahu's appointment with 61 in favor, 31 against and 5 abstentions.

Hours after Sharon called early elections Tuesday, Netanyahu, the prime minister's main rival for the Likud Party leadership, agreed to serve as the government's foreign minister until the elections to held within 90 days.

Sharon had previously failed to a narrow government.

The Likud is yet to face the challenge from its long-term competitor, the Labor Party, in the early elections, although the latest opinion poll shows the Likud could easily defeat Labor.

According to the poll, if the general elections were held now, the Likud would win 33 Knesset seats, up from the current 19 seats,to lead a right-wing bloc to a majority of 67 seats.

The left-wing Labor Party, by contrast, would slip from 25 seats to 19.

The poll also showed that Sharon would defeat Netanyahu as head of the Likud by a 44-38 percent margin among eligible Likud voters.

Despite Netanyahu's Wye Memorandum with the Palestinians in 1998, he is recognized as a super hawkish politician advocating tough policies against the Palestinians, including the expulsion of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

The former prime minister told Israel TV he had discussed with Sharon a US-backed "road map" peace plan, stressing his opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2003.

"I will promise you one thing...by the end of 2003 there will not be a Palestinian terror state created here," Netanyahu was quoted as saying.

"Our immediate problem today isn't the political problem with the Palestinians because there we simply need to end the process of conquering terror...Afterwards we can be free for the political issue," he added.

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