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[Israeli Prime Minister] Sharon waits to appoint ministers (National Union MK joins Kadima)
The Jerusalem Post ^ | 26 November 2005 (updated 27 November) | GIL HOFFMAN AND JPOST STAFF

Posted on 11/27/2005 10:59:54 AM PST by anotherview

ov. 26, 2005 23:20 | Updated Nov. 27, 2005 19:22
Sharon waits to appoint ministers
By GIL HOFFMAN AND JPOST STAFF

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon prepares to leave the Knesset.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who was expected to appoint the six ministers who joined his new Kadima party to temporarily fill the vacancies left by the seven Labor ministers who quit the government last week, will continue to hold the portfolios of the Labor ministers who resigned for at least another 10 days.

Attorney General Meni Mazuz recommended that the government be designated a government in transition from December 8, when Sharon can appoint members of the Knesset to ministerial posts.

As a result, Sharon will be in charge of seven portfolios: social affairs, national infrastructure, communications, interior, environment, housing and science. In addition, the prime minister will also be responsible for the affairs that were the responsibility of Vice Premier Shimon Peres and minister without portfolio Haim Ramon.

The cabinet agreed Sunday morning that Sharon would make the appointments to the vacant posts after December 8.

Sources close to Sharon said he would not, however, appoint ministers who intend to quit the government. The Likud decided last week that its six remaining ministers would stay in the cabinet until after the party's December 19 primary.

If elected Likud leader, MKs Binyamin Netanyahu, Uzi Landau and Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz said they would take the Likud out of the government while Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom have said that they would have the Likud remain in the government.

Sharon is expected to appoint loyalists to the cabinet, including Deputy Defense Minister Ze'ev Boim and MK Roni Bar-On, who have been waiting for Sharon to obtain Knesset approval for them to become ministers since March.

Sharon is expected this week to appoint Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to chair Kadima's campaign and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni to head the party's information effort. He will assign the 16 MKs who have joined Kadima other posts in the campaign.

While many names of public figures who might join the party are being raised, Sharon is taking his time in drafting people to Kadima. Sharon met on Sunday with National Union MK Michael Nudelman, who decided that he would join Kadima and thereby help the party attract Russian immigrant voters. Weekend polls showed that Sharon's support is strong among Russian immigrants, who have played a key role in deciding the victor of the last few elections.

Meanwhile in the Likud, Netanyahu intends to inaugurate his new campaign office in Tel Aviv on Sunday night and Shalom will host a large rally in Ramat Gan on Tuesday. In an interview with Channel 2 on Saturday, Shalom called upon Netanyahu to announce that he would not quit politics if he loses and Mofaz to announce that he will remain in the Likud.

Mofaz met with Katz over the weekend and discussed the possibility of Katz endorsing Mofaz if he finishes second in the race and runs against Netanyahu in a run-off. Katz called upon his opponents in the race to agree not to take the Likud into a government that wouldn't bring territorial concessions to a referendum. Landau was greeted ambivalently in Tel Aviv's Hatikvah market on Friday.

Channel 2 reported on Saturday night about a new initiative to have President Moshe Katsav run for Likud leader if all the other six candidates quit the race. Katsav denied any connection to the report and said he intends to finish his term in office. Sources close to Katsav in the Likud central committee said the report was based on a misunderstanding and should not be taken seriously.


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Israel; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: arielsharon; israel; israelielections; israelipolitics; kadima; michaelnudelman; ministers; nationalunion; nudelman; sharon; vacantministries
Sharon met on Sunday with National Union MK Michael Nudelman, who decided that he would join Kadima and thereby help the party attract Russian immigrant voters.

A defection from National Union honestly surprises me. I thought that was the most right wing, anti-disengagement party out there. That the Prime Minister has convinced a National Union MK to come over says that Bibi's claims that Kadima is leftist won't hold much water.

1 posted on 11/27/2005 10:59:55 AM PST by anotherview
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To: anotherview

Basically, as I see it, Likud is basically, at this point, bypassed by events. Gaza, whatever the merits of the withdrawal, is gone. Now Sharon intends to, whatever he says in public, withdraw behind the "temporary" wall and annex those areas of the West Bank to Israel.

Am I reading this right?


2 posted on 11/27/2005 11:25:57 AM PST by furquhart (Gingrich '08)
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To: furquhart

Pretty muc, yes. The Prime Minister prefers a peace agreement but I think it is pretty clear he will eventually support unilateral separation.

I would not be so certain that the current route of the fence will be the border. I don't think the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, for example, will be abandoned. If it comes down to unilateral action I suspect a finger of Jewish land, similar to that where the fence extends to include the Ariel bloc in Samaria, will eventually have to be created in southern Judea. Such an act would be a major provocation to the Arabs and I still think the Prime Minister believes a peace agreement is possible. That is the only reason it hasn't happened yet.


3 posted on 11/27/2005 11:40:31 AM PST by anotherview ("Ignorance is the choice not to know" -Klaus Schulze)
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To: anotherview

Whats the deal with the Jordan River Valley? is it true that its mostly Jewish Settled-Owned? will that area be annexed by Israel?


4 posted on 11/27/2005 1:07:00 PM PST by MassachusettsGOP (Massachusetts Republican....A rare breed indeed)
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To: MassachusettsGOP
Whats the deal with the Jordan River Valley?

In what sense? The Jordan River is the border between Jordan and Israel.

is it true that its mostly Jewish Settled-Owned?

No. There are settlements in the valley, but the majority of it is sparsely populated and is not owned by settlers.

will that area be annexed by Israel?

I'm sorry but my crystal ball isn't working today. My guess would be no. Israel may maintain control of a piece for early warning stations but annexing the entire valley would mean encircling the Palestinians and making any future state less than viable.

5 posted on 11/27/2005 1:13:25 PM PST by anotherview ("Ignorance is the choice not to know" -Klaus Schulze)
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To: anotherview
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to force questions on you, you seemed to know what you were talking about, and I being largely unacquainted with the Israeli-Palestinian Situation wrongfully volunteered you to help catch me up. I also mistook you for this man.


6 posted on 11/27/2005 1:56:36 PM PST by MassachusettsGOP (Massachusetts Republican....A rare breed indeed)
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