Members of the Israeli Labor Party have ratified an agreement negotiated by Labor leader Ehud Barak and prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu on Labor joining Netanyahu's coalition. A 55-per-cent majority of Labor's 1400-member Central Committee approved the controversial agreement on Tuesday night.
Under the agreement, Israel will work to reach a regional peace agreement; it remains committed to all agreements signed by previous governments; Barak, continuing as defense minister, will be a full partner in the diplomatic process; and the government will enforce the law on illegal outposts. Labor will receive five Cabinet posts, two deputy ministers and a Knesset committee chairmanship.
Barak told the Central Committee meeting in Tel Aviv that Labor would be "a counterbalance against the right in a right-wing government" and would be "involved in all regional policy-making with our neighbors, including the Palestinians." He said: "I am not afraid of Benjamin Netanyahu. We will not serve as anyone's fig leaf." 680 Labour delegates voted in favor of joining the government, while 507 opposed Barak's move.
Theoretically, Netanyahu's coalition now has a majority of 65 seats in the 120-member Knesset.
