Israel, Sharon vindicates nothing Foreigners for Netanyahu

JERUSALEM – Ariel Sharon celebrates his 75th birthday by receiving a warm phone call from President Bush and consuming a delicious revenge against Benjamin Netanyahu, his archetypal rival inside the Likud, to which he subtracts the post of foreign minister. Committed to distributing seats before presenting the new government in parliament, yesterday the prime minister unexpectedly offered the post of head of diplomacy to Silvan Shalom, the finance minister so far, who immediately accepted. At this point, Sharon offered Netanyahu Finance, calling it a crucial department to revive Israel’s economy. But at the rejection of “Bibi”, as everyone here calls the ex-premier, Sharon expressed only a laconic “regret”. Later one of his collaborators telephoned Netanyahu urging him to reconsider. And at that point laborious night negotiations are resumed. Whatever the final decision of the latter, the Israeli media comment, there is no doubt that Sharon wanted to downgrade it or oust him from the government, punishing Netanyahu for trying to take away the party’s leadership (and the automatic candidacy for prime minister) in the Likud primaries in November, which preceded the general elections, which were then swept by Sharon in January. Despite having a similar political program, the two have never liked each other and the challenge to the primaries has sparked. In addition, they indicate Likud sources, appointing to the Foreigners an inexperienced politician of international affairs as the 44-year-old Shalom (whose name in Hebrew means “peace”), Sharon guarantees absolute control over any development in peace negotiations, while Netanyahu would certainly have operated with greater authority and independence. If Netanyahu’s refusal is final, the Ministry of Finance will go to Ehud Olmert, a mayor of Jerusalem for a decade, an iron ally of Sharon: who according to rumors had promised him the finances even before proposing them to Netanyahu, evidently certain that “Bibi” disdainfully rejected the offer. The other key ministry, Defense, remains with the former Chief of Staff Mofaz. This morning the prime minister will submit the new center-right coalition to the ritual vote of confidence in parliament, where he can count on a majority of 68 seats out of 120. The government will be composed of the Likud (40 seats), by the secular centrists of Shinui (15), and by two ultranationalist movements, the National Religious Party (6) and the National Union (7), which in the past supported the idea of ​​the “transfer” of Palestinians to other Arab countries to annex the Occupied Territories. Meanwhile, Amram Mitzna, leader of the Labor party, passed to the opposition among fierce internal disputes, denies “for the moment” the rumors of his imminent resignation.

February 27 2003