The Labor party\'s Central Committee will not choose its government ministers for the unity government until early next week, and not this Thursday as was originally planned. If the decision is not changed - see below - the elections are to be held in the following manner: Potential candidates who are interested in either the Foreign Affairs, Defense, or Agriculture portfolios will specify which one of the three they wish to run for, and the three elections will be held simultaneously. Shimon Peres is expected to be the only candidate for Foreign Affairs - although Avraham Burg has also expressed interest - while for Defense, Matan Vilnai, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, and Ephraim Sneh will likely run. The losers in these elections, plus other candidates, will then have a run-off election; the one who scores highest will have his choice of the remaining portfolios, then the next-highest will choose, etc., until all six of the ministries promised to Labor by the Likud - plus two ministers-without-portfolios - have been filled.
Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon said today that he would not feel obligated to accept any choice of ministers made by the Central Committee. He was referring specifically to the Defense Ministry; Matan Vilnai\'s relationship with IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Sha\'ul Mofaz are not positive - a situation which Sharon feels would hamper the government\'s defense policy and activities.
Most of Labor\'s government ministers - who were not happy with last nights\' choice of the above system - convened this morning to discuss its ramifications. Ministers Beilin and Ben-Ami, leading opponents of the national unity government, did not arrive at the meeting, but other objectors such as Minister Yuli Tamir and Avraham Burg did show up. Former Police Minister Moshe Shachal explained why the above system is illegal, according to party rules - but his opinion was overruled. In the end, the ministers decided to leave the matter for the party\'s Law Committee - in the hope that a way will be found to bypass yesterday\'s Central Committee decision.
Excerpts from yesterday\'s fiery speech by Interior Minister Chaim Ramon, a proponent of the unity government:
\"Ehud Barak and the government went for a permanent-status agreement, which you always wanted, Yossi Beilin. But this was a negation of Oslo! Because I always said that whoever wanted a permanent-status agreement - that is, all or nothing - would get nothing! I said this at the government meetings, time after time after time! I said this before Oslo, during Oslo, and after Oslo! Barak said, \'Let\'s go for broke, so that Arafat would have to make some hard decisions!\' But I said, \'Is our own public ready for the hard decisions?\' Was it ready to go for the division of Jerusalem, the [give-away] of 95% [of Judea and Samaria], the return of tens of thousand of Arab refugees, the uprooting of 50,000 settlers? No! I said this over and over! I told Ehud that he is gambling! What would have happened had he reached an agreement, and then it would have been rejected by the Israeli public?! This would have been a deathblow to peace! I told him, Why don\'t you listen, like a leader must, to what the public is saying?! We have stopped listening!\"
Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon said today that he would not feel obligated to accept any choice of ministers made by the Central Committee. He was referring specifically to the Defense Ministry; Matan Vilnai\'s relationship with IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Sha\'ul Mofaz are not positive - a situation which Sharon feels would hamper the government\'s defense policy and activities.
Most of Labor\'s government ministers - who were not happy with last nights\' choice of the above system - convened this morning to discuss its ramifications. Ministers Beilin and Ben-Ami, leading opponents of the national unity government, did not arrive at the meeting, but other objectors such as Minister Yuli Tamir and Avraham Burg did show up. Former Police Minister Moshe Shachal explained why the above system is illegal, according to party rules - but his opinion was overruled. In the end, the ministers decided to leave the matter for the party\'s Law Committee - in the hope that a way will be found to bypass yesterday\'s Central Committee decision.
Excerpts from yesterday\'s fiery speech by Interior Minister Chaim Ramon, a proponent of the unity government:
\"Ehud Barak and the government went for a permanent-status agreement, which you always wanted, Yossi Beilin. But this was a negation of Oslo! Because I always said that whoever wanted a permanent-status agreement - that is, all or nothing - would get nothing! I said this at the government meetings, time after time after time! I said this before Oslo, during Oslo, and after Oslo! Barak said, \'Let\'s go for broke, so that Arafat would have to make some hard decisions!\' But I said, \'Is our own public ready for the hard decisions?\' Was it ready to go for the division of Jerusalem, the [give-away] of 95% [of Judea and Samaria], the return of tens of thousand of Arab refugees, the uprooting of 50,000 settlers? No! I said this over and over! I told Ehud that he is gambling! What would have happened had he reached an agreement, and then it would have been rejected by the Israeli public?! This would have been a deathblow to peace! I told him, Why don\'t you listen, like a leader must, to what the public is saying?! We have stopped listening!\"