Sources in Labor said, "We will consider a failure to appoint Majadele to a government ministry as a violation of our coalition agreement." They said Labor Party chairman Amir Peretz intended to back the hard-line position - but several Labor ministers said the threat is "ridiculous."
Political analysts said it was unlikely that Peretz would escalate the Majadele issue into a coalition crisis, because he already is engaged in another power struggle with Olmert that he may lose - the appointment of a new IDF Chief of Staff. The Defense Minister wants Maj.-Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi to take over the job, but Olmert is known to prefer Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky.
"If Peretz loses any of these political battles right now, it will make him seem even weaker in the eyes of party members, and the snowball called [Ehud] Barak will likely turn into an avalanche of defections Peretz won't be able to stop," one analyst said.
Interior Minister Roni Bar-On (Kadima) said that speculation that MK Majadele would be appointed as Minister of Science, Culture and Sport was "premature."
The post was vacated by Ophir Pines-Paz last month in protest of the inclusion of Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) in the coalition. It is assumed that Labor has the right to choose Pines' replacement, and in fact voted narrowly on Thursday to accept Peretz's nomination of Majedele. Peretz was widely criticized for choosing Majedel merely as a political ploy to assure the Arab sector's support in Peretz's bid to retain the party leadership in the primaries next May.
Bar-on explained that it was not clear that Olmert would appoint a Labor minister to the vacated post because Pines-Paz had been given the ministry on a temporary basis. Majadele said, "I am confident that the Prime Minister will see the appointment of the first Arab minister in the State of Israel, a minister with a portfolio, with authority, as being to the benefit of the Israeli government and the entire Israeli society."
The issue was not brought to a vote at today's weekly Cabinet meeting, and no date has yet been set for this to happen.
On Thursday, Peretz called Strategic Threats Minister Avigdor Lieberman a "racist" for opposing the appointment of an Arab Muslim as minister. On Friday, Lieberman responded and said that it was Peretz who was the racist and "making cynical use of the Arab sector in order to advance his standing in Labor Party power struggles."
Political analysts said it was unlikely that Peretz would escalate the Majadele issue into a coalition crisis, because he already is engaged in another power struggle with Olmert that he may lose - the appointment of a new IDF Chief of Staff. The Defense Minister wants Maj.-Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi to take over the job, but Olmert is known to prefer Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky.
"If Peretz loses any of these political battles right now, it will make him seem even weaker in the eyes of party members, and the snowball called [Ehud] Barak will likely turn into an avalanche of defections Peretz won't be able to stop," one analyst said.
Interior Minister Roni Bar-On (Kadima) said that speculation that MK Majadele would be appointed as Minister of Science, Culture and Sport was "premature."
The post was vacated by Ophir Pines-Paz last month in protest of the inclusion of Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) in the coalition. It is assumed that Labor has the right to choose Pines' replacement, and in fact voted narrowly on Thursday to accept Peretz's nomination of Majedele. Peretz was widely criticized for choosing Majedel merely as a political ploy to assure the Arab sector's support in Peretz's bid to retain the party leadership in the primaries next May.
Bar-on explained that it was not clear that Olmert would appoint a Labor minister to the vacated post because Pines-Paz had been given the ministry on a temporary basis. Majadele said, "I am confident that the Prime Minister will see the appointment of the first Arab minister in the State of Israel, a minister with a portfolio, with authority, as being to the benefit of the Israeli government and the entire Israeli society."
The issue was not brought to a vote at today's weekly Cabinet meeting, and no date has yet been set for this to happen.
On Thursday, Peretz called Strategic Threats Minister Avigdor Lieberman a "racist" for opposing the appointment of an Arab Muslim as minister. On Friday, Lieberman responded and said that it was Peretz who was the racist and "making cynical use of the Arab sector in order to advance his standing in Labor Party power struggles."