Barak heads off coalition crisis

Mr Barak's split coalition threatens to disintegrate

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has fended off a major coalition crisis by postponing the sacking of a group of rebel ministers.

He had threatened to use the weekly cabinet meeting to dismiss all ministers who failed to support him in a crucial parliamentary ballot - but chose instead to focus largely on the death of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad.

On Wednesday, six ministers from right-wing and religious parties - including key coalition member Shas - voted with the opposition to pass a motion calling for early elections.

Israel radio said the prime minister had stepped back from the brink because all-night talks with the Orthodox Shas were near to a conclusion.

It quoted Mr Barak as saying he expected to form a narrow coalition which could make "important changes".

He has said he wants to create a new coalition although he has suggested it could have a similar make-up to the current government, and could include Shas.

Cash for schools

The early election bill must now go before a parliamentary committee, and pass two further readings before becoming law - a process which could take months.

We are trying to create a coalition system which will work properly

Pro-Barak Minister Haim Ramon

After the vote, an angry Mr Barak attacked the dissenters, saying they had "dismissed themselves" from his 11-month-old government.

The festering political crisis began when the premier called off talks with Shas in a long-running dispute over funding for its near-bankrupt religious schools.

If the influential Shas and others left the coalition, the government would lose its broad base that Mr Barak hoped would appeal to Israelis.

This would make it more difficult for him to sell any future peace deals with Syria and the Palestinians to hostile sections of the population.

'End of an era'

Mr Barak told Sunday's cabinet meeting that the death of the Syrian leader marked the end of an era and that the Middle East was now a new entity.

A BBC correspondent says there is a sense of optimism in Israel that a new chapter in relations with Syria might help Mr Barak to secure the historic peace on which he has staked his political career.

The cabinet also approved a three-week freeze on disputed sections of a proposed tax reform in an attempt to head off an indefinite general strike set to begin on Monday.

Finance Minister Avraham Shohat told Israel army radio that he was seeking to enter eleventh-hour talks with the union leaders who aim to crippling the country's public and banking sectors and state-run airline.