By IPS Correspondents
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, Feb 27 2003 (IPS)

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon removed the last obstacle facing what seemed to be a "tough" job in forming a coalition government when his arch rival Benjamin Netanyahu accepted the Finance portfolio.

Netanyahu, who was holding the Foreign Portfolio, has accepted Sharon’s offer to serve as finance minister in Israel’s new government, after refusing the post when it was first offered, Israel Army radio reported Thursday.

According to the radio, the appointment would be finalized later in the day.

In a move that caught most observers by surprise, Sharon offered Netanyahu the finance portfolio Wednesday, which he reportedly refused, only to then closet himself with advisors to mull the offer over.

Israel Radio reported Thursday morning that Sharon had agreed to Netanyahu’s demand that the finance minister’s authority be widened to include chairmanship of the socioeconomic mini-cabinet, and responsibility for government companies.

Departing Finance Minister Silvan Shalom, whose tenure was regarded as unsuccessful in light of Israel’s worsening economic plight, will replace Netanyahu at the foreign ministry. Shalom is viewed by some commentators as a "rising star in the Likud party" known for his ambition and hawkish views on the Palestinian uprising. Shalom, 44, was born in Tunisia and speaks Hebrew, English, Arabic and some French.

Sharon loyalist Ehud Olmert, who reportedly resigned as mayor of Jerusalem after being promised he would receive a senior portfolio in the new cabinet, was widely tipped to replace Shalom as finance minister.

On Thursday, Olmert was still waiting to hear which portfolio he would occupy in the incoming government.

Sharon is to present his government to the Knesset for final approval Thursday afternoon, one month after his Likud Party won the parliamentary elections.

Besides his own Likud Party, Sharon brought to his government members of the centrist Shinui party, the ultranationalist National Union party and the National Religious Party (NRP), a champion of Jewish settlements on occupied land.

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