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Sharon Poised to Expand Coalition Government
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is scheduled to meet Center Party Chairman Dan Meridor Thursday afternoon to discuss the faction's entry into the coalition government and the exact role Meridor will play in the government, Israel Radio reported.
Both men are expected to work out final details about Meridor's new position as minister of National Strategic Planning. The Center Party will then make its final decision on whether to join the government.
Sharon has been trying to bring into his coalition government the five-seat Center Party over the past few days and was considered to make serious improvements in his offer to the faction.
The latest proposal puts Meridor, who currently heads the Knesset (parliament) Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, in charge of the National Security Council, and security agencies, such as the Mossad and General Security Service (or Shin Bet).
Meridor will also join Sharon's inner security cabinet, which also includes Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer from the leading Labor Party.
The proposal also includes a clause stating that if the Labor Party quits from the government, Meridor will be named either foreign minister or defense minister.
Another lawmaker from the Center Party and former Health Minister Roni Milo will replace Tzip Livni from Sharon's Likud faction as regional cooperation minister.
Sharon's proposal also said that the Center Party would keep the chairmanship of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, according to local reports.
Analysts said that the inclusion of Meridor, a former "Likud prince" who left the right-wing party over disagreements with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, would help balance out a recent alliance between Peres and Ben Eliezer, and would free Sharon's hand in acting to quell Palestinian uprising.
Peres and Ben Eliezer argue that there is no military solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflicts and have called for negotiations with the Palestinians on a ceasefire.
In response to the Center Party's imminent entry into the government, Chairman of Histadrut (the General Federation of Labor) Amir Peretz said that his two-seat Am Ehad (One Nation) faction would pull out of the government if the security situation continues to supersede other social problems including unemployment.
Opposition leader Yossi Sarid who heads the leftist Meretz Party protested the move to expand the government, saying that the Center Party's accession would turn the coalition into a swollen government with more than 40 ministers and deputy ministers.
Sharon was sworn into office in early March and formed a government composed of 26 ministers, the largest ever in Israel's 53-year history.
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