The Labor Party led by Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz, a
key partner in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's coalition, decided to
stay in the government despite the addition of an extreme-right
party into it, Israeli daily Ha'aretz said on
Wednesday.
Following a meeting with Olmert Wednesday afternoon to finalize
terms by which Labor would remain in the government, Peretz said he
would recommend his party remain in the coalition.
During their meeting, the two agreed that the government would
follow the guidelines of the coalition agreement and that they
would not be harmed by the entry of Israel Beiteinu ("Our home is
Israel") into the coalition.
It was also agreed that all jurisdiction of the defense minister
would remain and that the Labor Party would still have senior
partner status within the coalition.
The Labor Party was allocated an additional government position,
that of assistant defense minister. It was further decided that
Peretz would head a committee to address the issue of the
non-Jewish sectors in Israel.
On Monday, Olmert and the chairman of the Israel Beiteinu party
Avigdor Lieberman signed an agreement on the party's joining the
coalition, which was seen as Olmert's efforts to bolster his shaky
six-month-old government but caused disputes in the Jewish
state.
Five out of Israel's Labor Party's 19 legislators signed a
letter calling on the left-wing faction to oppose the addition of
Lieberman's Israel Beitenu to the government.
"Sitting together with Lieberman (in coalition government) would
legitimize a perception backing the expulsion of Arabs and would
legitimize Lieberman as a leader," said the letter, which was sent
to Labor's central committee members.
(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2006)
