Right-wing hard-liner enters Cabinet — ISRAEL | 世界のニュースを英語で読むならジャパンタイムズウィークリー


	UPDATE: Saturday, June 12, 2010 The Japan Times Weekly 2006年10月28日号（バックナンバー）

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ISRAEL
Right-wing hard-liner enters Cabinet

Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts took an apparent blow when Prime Minister Ehud Olmert added a new Cabinet minister -- a strident hawk who has advocated bombing Palestinian population centers, drawing borders to exclude Arab citizens and imposing a death penalty on lawmakers who meet Hamas leaders.

Cabinet Minister Avigdor Lieberman AP PHOTO

Olmert and his new deputy, Avigdor Lieberman, announced their coalition agreement Oct. 23. Lieberman is to become deputy prime minister in charge of dealing with strategic threats facing Israel. Lieberman quit a previous government over Israel's pullout from Gaza last year.

Parliamentary approval is needed, but that is considered a formality because Olmert's coalition would have a majority -- if his main partner, Labor, can live with its new neighbor.

Lieberman, 48, entered the political stage a decade ago as an aide to then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He quickly gained a reputation as a powerful behind-the-scenes mover widely detested for his strong-arm tactics.

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