Sharon to present government to parliament

Israeli troops blew up a suicide bomber’s home in the West Bank and thwarted a car bombing today, hours before Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was to present his new hard-line government to parliament for approval.

Israel’s military activity against the Palestinians has not halted despite a rare snowstorm that blanketed Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank for two days.

Israeli troops operating near the West Bank town of Tulkarem found 44lbs of explosives near a car which militants were planning to use as a car bomb, the army said. It said the soldiers blew up the bomb in a controlled explosion.

In the Balata refugee camp near Nablus, troops blew up the home of a Palestinian militant who attacked the Jewish settlement of Shavei Shomron last May. The militant was the only one killed in the attack.

The army demolishes militants’ homes in a bid to deter Palestinians from carrying out attacks on Israelis. Palestinians condemn the action as a violation of international law and collective punishment.

On the political front, Sharon delivered a surprise blow to his main party rival, Benjamin Netanyahu, when he removed him as foreign minister and offered him the less-senior finance ministry posting in his Cabinet.

Sharon was scheduled to present his new government for parliamentary approval at 4pm (1400 GMT) today.

Although Netanyahu initially rejected the offer, Israeli media said it appeared he was reconsidering. According to the reports, if the deal goes through, Netanyahu would have more authority than previous finance ministers.

The country’s finance minister is faced with the difficult task of pulling Israel out of a recession that has persisted in six of the past seven years and worsened due to more than two years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.

Sharon’s new government – with its hawkish ministers and two extreme-right parties – will probably not fulfil his pledge of advancing talks with the Palestinians and making the “painful concessions” he has said he is prepared to make for peace.

“There are no prospects for peace,” political analyst Gerald Steinberg said. “The best anyone can expect is a gradual reduction in friction over a number of years.”

The pro-settlement National Religious Party and the extreme-right National Union are key members of Sharon’s new coalition. The more moderate Shinui party is the third member, giving it a comfortable majority of 68 in the 120-seat Knesset.