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Sources: Sharon taps new defense minister
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz has accepted an offer from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to become Israel's new defense minister, government sources said Thursday. Former Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer resigned Wednesday. The Labor Party, which he heads, bolted from Sharon's national unity government, voting against a new Israeli budget. In addition, Israel Radio reported Thursday that Shimon Peres, who resigned as Israeli foreign minister Wednesday, had refused overtures from Sharon aides to join a new government. After Labor's 24 members resigned from his coalition government Wednesday, Sharon no longer had a majority of votes in the 120-member Knesset, the Israeli parliament. He needs at least five ministers to join his coalition, which now has 56 votes, in order to stay in power. He faces a no-confidence vote on Monday. A number of small, right-wing parties are considered possible partners for Sharon in a new government. If Sharon fails to form a new coalition, he would be forced to ask Israeli President Moshe Katsav to dissolve the Knesset and call new elections within 90 days. Ben-Eliezer questions new choiceBen-Eliezer praised Mofaz in an interview with Israel Radio, but said Mofaz has little political experience. "He was a very good chief of staff, but... to enter the civilian world of politics, you need experience," said Ben-Eliezer, who is also a former Israeli general. Mofaz was born in Iran in 1948 and emigrated to Israel in 1957, according to the Jewish Virtual Library. He fought with the Israeli army as a paratrooper in the Six-Day War in 1967, the library reported, eventually rising to commander of Israel's Paratroop Brigade. He received a degree in business administration from Bar-Ilan University and eventually held a senior position in the Israeli Ground Corps Command before becoming chief of staff in 1998. The coalition, which has survived for 20 months, fell apart in a dispute between Sharon and Labor over about $147 million in funding for Jewish settlements. Sharon has been an ardent supporter of settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. Ben-Eliezer demanded that money be diverted to social programs. Sharon condemned the demand as political and refused, but said he offered to set up a committee to consider Labor's demands. Ben-Eliezer rejected the offer. Sharon reportedly courting ultra-nationalistsIsrael Radio reported Sharon had started making contacts with the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, whose seven seats in the 120-member parliament could restore Sharon's majority in the legislature, Reuters reported. In Ramallah, Palestinian Authority officials said a new Sharon coalition relying on right-wing religious parties will only spell more problems for the Palestinians. Yasser Abed Rabbo, the Palestinian information minister, said, "This (a newly formed coalition) is the Cabinet of the extreme right which will try to escalate the war more against the Palestinian people and will endanger the condition in the region. "And I believe that the Israeli people will commit a historic mistake if they give a chance to such a Cabinet to rule them and to speak in their name. This is the Cabinet of war." Failure to form a new coalition will result in Sharon calling for new elections, probably to be held next spring.
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