Roundup: Extreme-right party joins Israeli coalition cabinet

An extreme-right party joined Israel's coalition government on Monday in line with an agreement reached between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the party's chairman Avigdor Lieberman, causing disputes in the Jewish state.

"Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the chairman of the Yisrael Beitenu ("Our home is Israel") party, Avigdor Lieberman, several minutes ago signed an agreement on Yisrael Beitenu's joining the coalition," Olmert's office said in a statement.

According to the agreement, to be reviewed by the Knesset ( parliament) on Tuesday, Lieberman, known for his hardline views, will be appointed deputy prime minister and minister in the Prime Minister's Office coordinating strategic affairs and Iran-related issues.

He will also be a member of the political-security cabinet and an integral part of all discussions regarding strategic decisions for Israel. It was speculated that Lieberman might also receive the chairmanship of the Knesset Finance Committee.

The move was seen as Olmert's efforts to bolster his shaky six- month-old government.

With Yisrael Beitenu and its 11 seats in the coalition, Olmert controls 78 of 120 seats in parliament, ensuring success in crucial parliamentary votes.

"A government must have a stable majority, and we must set the rules for securing this," Olmert said.

However, the entry of Lieberman into the government caused disputes across Israeli political spectrum and enraged dovish Israelis.

While most of the labor party members believed that the expansion was important for the stability of the government and would help it make big decision ahead, some Labor party ministers expressed their displeasure over the agreement.

Shortly after the coalition deal was made, Labor Party leader and Defense Minister Amir Peretz warned not to politicize the Iranian issue.

During a conference held in Tel Aviv on Monday evening, Peretz said, "politicizing the Iranian issue will hinder our treatment of the threat."

The Labor Party central committee will meet in the coming days in order to decide how to respond to the addition of Yisrael Beitenu, but the party is expected to decide to remain in the government.

Senior officials with the Likud and some other parliamentary parties also criticized Lieberman and his party.

Commenting Lieberman's addition to the coalition, Wasil Taha, a lawmaker from National Democratic Assembly, said that "it was a black day for the Knesset and also for the government, when a racist man joins it, a warmonger threatening with declarations."

The move was "dangerous not only for Arabs, but for Jews and all citizens," Taha added.

Another lawmaker Abas Zkoor from United Arab List-Ta'al said that he viewed Lieberman's entry in the government as a " declaration of the government as racist and extreme."

"This worsens the security situation and the ties between Israel and the Arab world, and also makes relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel difficult," he added.

Lieberman and his party were seen as a warmonger and racist because of the hard-line policy they have been holding for many years.

As early as end of the 34-day Israel-Hezbollah conflict, Yisrael Beitenu party's officials said that if Lieberman had been part of the security cabinet, the Lebanon war would have ended differently.

The hawkish policy can also be seen from their attitude towards Iran, an Islamic country that had sworn the wipe-off of Israel from Middle East map.

"The big issue now is the Iranian threat, and I don't want to think about what would happen in a year or two if we don't deal with it now. The U.S. won't be able to do anything against Iran because of the weakness of (U.S. President) Bush, so it is us against them," Lieberman told reporters after his meeting with Olmert.

Lieberman has also called for stripping Israeli Arabs of their citizenship, executing lawmakers for talking to Hamas and bombing Palestinian population centers, which made him one of Israel's most divisive figures.

Born in Chisinau in then-Soviet Moldova, Lieberman emigrated to Israel in 1978. He served as a member of the right-wing Likud party until 1999, when he formed Yisrael Beitenu, a party draws support mainly from immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

Source: Xinhua