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Interim PM Ehud Olmert and Labor Chairman Amir Peretz talk in the Knesset during its inaugural session. (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners April 23, 2006 |
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On Saturday, Interim PM Ehud Olmert and Amir Peretz established that by the end of the week, Israel will have the largest government in history, with 27 ministers.
Olmert has reportedly handed the Defense Ministry over to Labor, with Amir Peretz slated to become the next defense minister. Peretz may possibly be appointed Deputy Prime Minister as well.
Later Sunday, Olmert is scheduled to meet Kadima's Uriel Reichman, who was promised the Education Ministry by Ariel Sharon but will not receive it as a result of the agreement with the Labor party.
Sunday morning, Olmert met with Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz in Jerusalem in order to offer him a new post in the soon to be established government. Olmert was expected to offer Mofaz an economic portfolio. Olmert also planned to ask Mofaz to remain a member of the security and defense cabinet. According to some estimates, Mofaz will be offered to take over the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry.
Olmert is slated to meet Kadima MK Uriel Reichman, reportedly to offer him a different post. Reports late Saturday night speculated that Olmert will offer Reichman the Justice Ministry as a consolation prize to losing the Education Ministry; however, Reichman's aides said he would reject the offer. Some senior officials in Kadima said such an offer to Reichman was far from certain. Reichman's aides said that he will likely return to the presidency of the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center that he founded.
Yahimovic told Army Radio that while she would prefer that Peretz serve as prime minister and finance minister, seven portfolios for the second-largest party was "not inconsiderable." The former journalist also said that she hoped that Labor's presence in the coalition would help mitigate the "Gordian knot existing between wealth and political power", a connection, she said, that "characterizes a number of Kadima officials."
Likud MK Michael Eitan said the 27-member cabinet was a waste of money.
"The only thing that will unite the coalition is the glue of corruption," Eitan said. "A government that cannot set a personal example by advancing its diplomatic goals without bribing the parties in the coalition is shameful and will not win the public's trust."
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