Tuesday, June 15, 1999
Barak Promises NRP that Har Homa Will Continue
By Nadav Shragai, Yossi Verter and Amira Segev, Ha'aretz Correspondents
Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak has reached an agreement with the National Religious
Party not to stand in the way of a plan to connect the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim with
Jerusalem.
The oral agreement also contains a promise to continue building in East Jerusalem's Har
Homa neighborhood.
However, Barak has refused to make any promises regarding construction of a Jewish
neighborhood at Ras al Amud.
The oral commitments on Ma'ale Adumim and Har Homa will not be included in the
coalition platform, nor will they be included in the coalition agreement with the NRP, as
neither Barak nor the NRP want the agreement publicized at this stage. The coalition
platform states only that "building in Jerusalem will continue for the benefit of all
its inhabitants."
Barak also sent messages to this effect to the Likud's leadership during his talks with
them over the past week.
The Har Homa project was originally approved by Laborite Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek,
but tenders were only issued for building on Har Homa by the Netanyau government. One
Israel enraged Meanwhile, One Israel is furious over Barak's announcement yesterday that,
at this stage, he will not include more than 18 ministers in his government.
The allocation of portfolios will be as follows: One minister and one deputy minister
apiece for the Center Party, Shinui, Yisrael b'Aliyah and the NRP; two ministers and a
deputy for Meretz; and nine ministries for One Israel - including one for Barak and one
for a "personal choice" of his.
In addition, Barak will hold three portfolios in reserve for Shas or the Likud, should
one of them join the coalition at a later date.
One Israel, however, is extremely unhappy over this line up. Of the seven ministries
available to One Israel, excluding Barak and his "personal appointment," one
will go to Gesher's David Levy, one to Meimad and one to Shimon Peres. This leaves only
four portfolios for all other Labor hopefuls.
Labor MKs believe two of the posts are certain to go to Shlomo Ben-Ami, who came in
first in the party's primaries, and Dalia Itzik, the highest-ranked woman on its slate.
This leaves two other portfolios to be fought over by Yossi Beilin, Haim Ramon, Binyamin
Ben-Eliezer, Avraham Shochat, Avraham Burg, Uzi Baram, Matan Vilnai and Ra'anan Cohen.
Meanwhile, both the Center Party and Yisrael b'Aliyah said yesterday that they will not
accept only one ministry. Yisrael b'Aliyah, however, is already talking about a solution:
moving some of the Interior Ministry's powers to another ministry, then combining the
remainder with the Absorption Ministry and putting party leader Natan Sharansky in charge
of the new entity. Current Absorption Minister Yuli Edelstein would be his deputy, with de
facto responsibility for immigration and absorption.
Barak did not say who his "personal appointment" would be, but Labor insiders
are betting that he will use this to give the Justice Ministry to his friend, Center Party
MK Dan Meridor - who will not get a ministry from his own party
(c) copyright 1999 Ha'aretz. All Rights Reserved
Source:
http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?id=48723&mador=1
-
