Barak set to join Sharon's government

By PHIL REEVES

JERUSALEM - Amid mounting Middle East violence, Israel's Ehud Barak has conditionally agreed to form a government of national unity with the hardliner Ariel Sharon, the man who trounced him at the polls 10 days ago and whom he repeatedly painted as a war monger who is too extreme to lead the troubled country.

Mr Barak's office released a statement after a two-hour evening meeting yesterday between the two men saying that the agreement on forming the coalition was "still conditional upon the completion of policy guidelines and coalition agreements".

Although it is incomplete, it marks a significant step forward in Mr Sharon's efforts to build a government, which have been given added urgency by an upsurge in violence, including the killing of eight young Israelis on Wednesday by a Palestinian bus driver.

Israel Radio said that Mr Barak – who was tossed out of office only 21 months after being elected – had agreed to fill the post of defence minister, a job he previously combined with that of premier. But this was not confirmed officially.

The statement revealed that the price set by Labour – the party led by Mr Barak – and agreed on by Mr Sharon, the Likud leader, was that two key ministries, defence and foreign affairs, would be in Labour hands. Other ministries have to be decided.

Mr Sharon campaigned on a promise of trying to form a unity government, which he claims will be capable of forging interim, rather than final, agreements with the Palestinians.

"I believed always and I believe now that Israel needs unity, and I have said many times that I'm going to form a national unity government," Mr Sharon told reporters before the meeting. "I think it's important, I think Israel needs unity and that will enable us to reach security and peace."

Mr Barak's decision will only deepen the accusation by his critics, especially on the left, that he is compromising himself and the Labour Party by linking up with an Israeli right-winger who is regarded with suspicion in the international community, and who is deeply disliked in the Arab world, and who was found by an Israeli commission in 1983 to be unfit to serve as a defence minister.

It is thought that he justified his volte-face, and the decision to join the Sharon government, by saying that Israel's current state of emergency demands it.

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