Shimon Peres reads proposed coalition agreement. (AP)

	Peres seizes the high ground Jerusalem Post
	Labor's day of rage Yossi Verter, Ha'aretz
	On the left - internal opposition?
	On the right - in Sharon's pocket?
	Barak quits; will not be part of Sharon's government
	Ramon poised to mount Labor leadership bid
	Israel's Labor party accepts coalition government NPR
	The Knesset
	Prime Minister's Office

A stormy Labor Party Central Committee session yesterday voted to join Ariel Sharon’s national unity government. By a vote of 505-243, the party approved the coalition agreement negotiated with the Likud; Labor will receive eight ministries and three deputy-minister posts in Sharon’s cabinet.

The Labor delegates also voted to reject a prepared slate of potential Labor ministers in the unity government. Acting on the proposal of Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh, the Central Committee reserved the right to choose its candidates individually for the ministries. Labor is likely to receive the Foreign; Defense; Transportation; Agriculture; Trade and Industry; and Science, Culture and Sport portfolios, along with two ministers without portfolio.

Less than half of the 1,700 Labor Party Central Committee members attended yesterday’s session. Most prominent among the absentees was Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who said that he was ill with the flu. A small riot erupted outside the Cinerama Hall in Tel Aviv where the congress was taking place. A small group of young activists opposed to the unity government tried unsuccessfully to force their way past security men and enter the hall.

Inside the Cinerama most of the scuffles were verbal. Orna Angel, who attended the session on Barak's behalf and read his prepared statement, was met by catcalls from the audience.

Delegates repeatedly interrupted the speech of Interior Minister Haim Ramon, calling out that he was a traitor to the party. When finally able to talk, Ramon stated that he supported a national unity government but would not be a member of it. Ramon also attacked Barak for going too far in his concessions and thereby jeopardizing the peace process.

In his speech Foreign Minister Ben-Ami claimed that Labor's rush to join the coalition would result in the clinical death of the party.

Listening to the people
"The party will not cease to exist. It will thrive again," Minister of Regional Cooperation Shimon Peres retorted. Peres was undoubtedly the most moving and passionate speaker of the evening. "The time has come to listen to the people. We suffered a defeat because we did not listen to the people."

Peres defended the national unity government option, saying that the Likud had committed not to build new settlements and to make "painful concessions" in the pursuit of peace. "I am not giving up on Oslo!" Peres insisted.

A smirking Shlomo Ben-Ami sitting in the front row of the audience told reporters "He's lucky that I can't answer him" as Peres spoke.

"I think this was a decision for the good of the State of Israel, rather than just the good of the Labor Party," Peres said after the vote. Peres refused to criticize the Central Committee's decision to choose the party's ministers in the government, saying that he was sure the list would be an appropriate selection.

Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert told Kol Yisrael Radio this morning that not every Labor Party candidate for Foreign Minister and/or Defense Minister would be acceptable to Ariel Sharon. "We never said to the Labor Party that they could do as they wanted."

In its lead editorial today, the New York Times wrote that the "Labor Party acted responsibly yesterday by voting to join a national unity government under the Likud Party leader, Ariel Sharon." According to the Times, Ariel Sharon has now committed to a "broadly centrist course. But for a national unity government to be effective, it must be more than a facade. Labor ministers must be consulted on important policies and given authority to run their departments."

The Labor Party's Central Committee will meet again on Thursday to vote for the party's representatives in Sharon's government.

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