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Defense Minister Peretz hangs on to his job
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners November 23, 2006 |
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After a tense month Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz met Thursday in attempt to patch things up between them. Despite much speculation that today's meeting could be the last meeting that Peretz would have in the capacity of Defense Minister, the meeting was reported as being routine and relatively uneventful.
The outcome of today's meeting, though, does not mean that Peretz is in the clear.
Senior Labor officials told Ynet that in recent days, hushed contacts have been made meant to bring Peretz to quit his post respectably and in parallel maintain the stability of the coalition.
The officials assessed that Peretz would announce his intention to quit within the next few weeks, and added that the Labor chairman's political position at present was "extremely difficult." It should be noted that during the week, the Labor party expressed support for the phone call between Peretz and Abbas, as well as for Peretz' initiative to revive the diplomatic process with the Palestinians. However, not all party members believe he should continue serving in his post.
'We will not attend the funeral'
One senior official told Ynet that 'Peretz knows he is through; everyone is abandoning him, stabbing him in the back. It won't be surprising if he has a hard time getting reelected even as a leading Knesset member on Labor's list."
"Peretz must realize that his being defense minister is detrimental on a national level and projects on Labor," the official said.
"It is not impossible to fire a defense minister, but at this time it is not being considered from our standpoint."
Another official said, "Olmert cannot dismiss Peretz, because then he would have to go as well and he knows it; the two are joined together like Siamese twins; in any case, Peretz and Chief of Staff Dan Halutz will have to go some time soon."
Sources close to Olmert said the prime minister missed an opportunity to fire Peretz. "Now the momentum is gone and he cannot be dismissed," one source said.
Meanwhile, sources in Kadima have expressed their staunch criticism over Olmert's conduct, saying he may bring about the party's demise.
"We were at the wedding, but we will not attend the funeral," one party official said.
Ynet contributed to this article.
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