Chris Otton
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/ 24 April 2006

Olmert faces revolt over Israel coalition line-up

Ehud Olmert was facing a revolt on Monday in the ranks of his Kadima party with senior figures furious at losing out on key portfolios to Labour rivals as the new Israeli coalition government is drawn. Newspaper headlines made uncomfortable reading for the prime minister designate with a number of top Kadima candidates in last month’s election accusing him of reneging on agreements.

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/ 29 March 2006

Kadima readies itself for coalition

Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert prepared on Wednesday to form a coalition to fix Israel’s final borders after his Kadima party won an election which has dramatically redrawn the political landscape. With nearly all votes counted, Kadima was poised to emerge the largest party in parliament only four months after its creation by Olmert’s coma-stricken mentor Ariel Sharon, although it did not secure enough seats to govern alone.

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/ 14 February 2006

Israelis grow weary of ‘most vilified Knesset’

The jailing of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s son Omri has further thickened the stench of corruption in Israel, where the public has grown weary of political scandal in the newspaper headlines. Omri, a former MP, was handed a nine-month sentence over a string of charges linked to his father’s leadership campaign just a day after another MP was found guilty of corruption.

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/ 22 November 2005

Sharon defies political odds again

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, classified unfit for office more than two decades ago, continues to defy the political obituarists even after a divorce from his right-wing support base. Controversy has stalked Sharon, who first came to prominence as commander of the special forces’ Unit 101 in the 1950s, throughout his public life.

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/ 18 October 2004

Sharon admits Gaza poll may be needed

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon conceded on Monday he may have to call fresh elections to end divisions over his Gaza pull-out plan as pressure for a referendum mounted within his party. In the latest violence, four Palestinians militants were shot dead by Israeli troops, including a Hamas pair who were planning to attack a kibbutz.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=123852">’They destroyed all the houses'</a>

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/ 14 September 2004

Israeli ministers approve Gaza compensation

Israeli ministers approved a compensation package on Tuesday for settlers due to be uprooted from their homes as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejected calls to submit his Gaza pull-out plan to a referendum. The meeting represents the first concrete step towards the implementation of the so-called disengagement plan.

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/ 18 August 2004

Sharon’s party votes on coalition plan

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Gaza pull-out plan was hanging in the balance on Wednesday as his right-wing Likud party was to vote on his ambitions to bring the opposition Labour party into a new broad-based coalition. Meanwhile, Yasser Arafat made a rare admission of failure in his own keynote address to MPs.

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/ 1 June 2004

Sharon turns to Egypt, US for help on Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, boosted by high opinion poll ratings, was turning to Egypt and the United States on Tuesday to help him push through his troubled plan to pull out of Gaza. Sharon’s bureau chief is to meet in Washington with Bush administration officials who have already stated their support for the project.