HeXp£Øi±
Well-Known Member
Sunday, 3 November, 2002, 17:12 GMT
Netanyahu 'accepts' Sharon offer
Binyamin Netanyahu
Netanyahu wants to become the leader of Likud
Former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has said he will accept an offer to join the government of Ariel Sharon - but only if early elections are called. Mr Netanyahu has previously said he will challenge the prime minister for the leadership of the Likud Party, and it is not yet known if Mr Sharon accepted his rival's conditions during talks on Sunday.
Elections are not due for another year.
The prime minister has been working to win the support of ultra-nationalist and religious parties since Labor Party ministers on the centre-left resigned from his national unity government last week.
On Saturday, a hard-line former army chief, General Shaul Mofaz, accepted the defence minister's job, an appointment which now needs approval from the Israeli Knesset or parliament.
Correspondents say Mr Netanyahu, 53, who has become more right-wing since losing office in 1999, would rather take over from Mr Sharon than be his subordinate.
But, they say, he may fear being punished by voters for rejecting a crucial post such as that of foreign minister at a time of crisis.
Support needed
Mr Sharon also met ultranationalist parties on Sunday in a bid to shore up his government.
It lost its parliamentary majority when Labor Party members led by former defence minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer quit in a row over funding for Jewish settlements.
The walk-out left Mr Sharon with support from just 55 of the 120 members of the legislature.
The Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has warned that the two-year-old Palestinian uprising - or intifada - could worsen if the Israeli Government becomes more right-wing.
General Mofaz has a reputation for adopting a harsh line towards the Palestinians and has advocated the expulsion of Mr Arafat.
He has been in charge of combating the intifada and his tactics have brought increasing criticism from left-wingers and human rights groups.
Mr Netanyahu's position towards the Palestinians is even more severe than that, a BBC correspondent in Jerusalem says.
The former prime minister - who signed the 1998 Wye River peace accord with the Palestinians - now agrees that Mr Arafat should be deported and has rejected the idea of a Palestinian state in the current climate of violence.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2393147.stm