The coalition negotiations are officially beginning today, with representatives of Shinui, Shas, and the National Union meeting one after the other with the Likud. Labor is boycotting the negotiations. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, after being formally entrusted yesterday with the mission of forming the next government, made an impassioned plea for unity in order to solve the country's problems. "Painful national concessions" will be required to solve the economic and diplomatic issues, he said, and, "We must change the national list of priorities, enact reforms in the labor and capital markets, and privatize government companies." Sharon said that whoever says no to unity, "rejects the will of the Israeli public."