Internal opposition within the Labor party to Ehud Barak\'s appointment to the Defense Ministry is growing, particularly in light of Barak\'s post-election announcement that he was resigning from politics. Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami wrote to Barak that \"you have abandoned the position of diplomat and become a politician... Don\'t tell me that it\'s good for the country and bad for you...\" Other Laborites who object are Minister Yuli Tamir - who owes her political career to Barak - as well as Avraham Burg, Chaim Ramon, Yossi Beilin, Salah Tarif, and others; they are planning to present a united front against the appointment at the Labor Central Committee meeting this week. Chief among their demands will be a secret vote on the question of joining the national-unity government.



The Yesha Council\'s position is that it will agree to Barak\'s appointment as Defense Minister only if he agreed to totally backtrack from his policy of \"restraint and absorption.\"