Israeli Hawkish Minister to Resign After Two Fellows Quit GovernmentIsraeli Public Security Minister Uzi Landau, a leading hawk in the national unity government led by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, is expected to announce his resignation after two of his right-wing cabinet fellows bolted the government earlier Monday.Landau, who is a member of Sharon's Likud party, has called an emergency news conference Monday afternoon, during which he will read out his resignation letter, Likud sources revealed. Earlier Monday, the right-wing party Yisrael Beiteinu - National Union has announced its resignation from the government due to the Israeli troops' withdrawal from Palestinian neighborhoods in the West Bank city of Hebron overnight. Two ministers of the party, National Infrastructures Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi, would leave their posts and the resignation will go into effect in 48 hours. Landau, Lieberman and Ze'evi represent the far right end of the rainbow coalition and Sharon may be now worried that the development, the first cabinet crisis since he took office last March, could lead to a chain reaction. However, at the current time, the Sharon government's majority in the 120-member Knesset (parliament) is still not under threat as the coalition still has the support of 76 lawmakers even after the withdrawal. |
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