Sharon forms hawkish coalition of opponents to Palestinian state
In a last-minute surprise, Mr Sharon manoeuvred Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a former prime minister who is his rival in the Likud Party out of the Cabinet by offering him the finance portfolio.
Mr Netanyahu, who had said he would only stay on as foreign minister, turned down the offer. Mr Sharon's office then announced the new foreign minister will be outgoing finance minister Silvan Shalom, aged 45, a Likud Party stalwart with little diplomatic experience and aspirations of succeeding Mr Sharon at the helm.
