Sharon has been comatose since then. Ehud Olmert, serving as Acting Prime Minister over the past four months, refused to sit there - but it is now his in his own right.
During the course of the day, ceremonies marking the transfer of the ministries to the new ministers will take place. Olmert, for instance, will vacate the Ministry of Trade in favor of Shas MK Eli Yishai, and will transfer the Finance Ministry to his Kadima Party colleague Avraham Hirschsohn. Olmert also served of late as Interior Minister, the position to which he appointed Kadima's Roni Bar-On.
The government numbers 25 ministers, making it one of the largest in Israeli history. Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu noted that it is the largest ever relative to the number of MKs it represents. "Never have so many owed so much to so few," he said. Olmert said, however, that unlike previous governments, this one does not include any Deputy Ministers.
On the government's agenda today is the budget for the year 2006. Sharon's coalition difficulties of late last year prevented him from passing the budget by the original Dec. 31 deadline. This year's budget has been limping along on a month-to-month basis, with proportional allocations based on the 2005 budget.
Finance Minister Avraham Hirschsohn will submit the new budget according to the coalition agreement between Kadima, Labor and Shas. The changes stipulated by the agreement will be introduced after the first Knesset reading, which is expected to occur tomorrow, but before its final readings.
The current budget totals more than 284 billion shekels (over $63.1 billion), and includes extra allocations for the development of the Negev and Galilee, another 240 million shekels for the basket of government-subsidized medicines, hundreds of million shekels for the war against crime, and more.
During the course of the day, ceremonies marking the transfer of the ministries to the new ministers will take place. Olmert, for instance, will vacate the Ministry of Trade in favor of Shas MK Eli Yishai, and will transfer the Finance Ministry to his Kadima Party colleague Avraham Hirschsohn. Olmert also served of late as Interior Minister, the position to which he appointed Kadima's Roni Bar-On.
The government numbers 25 ministers, making it one of the largest in Israeli history. Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu noted that it is the largest ever relative to the number of MKs it represents. "Never have so many owed so much to so few," he said. Olmert said, however, that unlike previous governments, this one does not include any Deputy Ministers.
On the government's agenda today is the budget for the year 2006. Sharon's coalition difficulties of late last year prevented him from passing the budget by the original Dec. 31 deadline. This year's budget has been limping along on a month-to-month basis, with proportional allocations based on the 2005 budget.
Finance Minister Avraham Hirschsohn will submit the new budget according to the coalition agreement between Kadima, Labor and Shas. The changes stipulated by the agreement will be introduced after the first Knesset reading, which is expected to occur tomorrow, but before its final readings.
The current budget totals more than 284 billion shekels (over $63.1 billion), and includes extra allocations for the development of the Negev and Galilee, another 240 million shekels for the basket of government-subsidized medicines, hundreds of million shekels for the war against crime, and more.