Netanyahu Gets Ultimatum on Finding Cabinet Post for Sharon

Israel’s foreign minister on Wednesday repeated his threat to resign over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failure to include hard-line veteran Ariel Sharon in his Cabinet.

David Levy gave Netanyahu until Tuesday, the day the prime minister leaves for Washington to meet President Clinton, to find a post for Sharon.

“If this isn’t solved . . . I will give up [my] portfolio,” Levy told Netanyahu at a meeting of lawmakers from the governing coalition. “This government is not complete without Sharon.”

Sharon, a retired general who engineered Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, was instrumental in rallying religious voters to secure Netanyahu’s victory over Shimon Peres in the May 29 election. He became angry after he was denied the finance or defense ministry in Netanyahu’s government.

Netanyahu accused Levy, a longtime rival, of grandstanding by making his threat in public but said he would continue his efforts to bring Sharon into the Cabinet.

It was Levy’s second attempt to force Netanyahu to include the 68-year-old Sharon in the new government.

Moments before Netanyahu formed his government last month, Levy threatened to boycott the Cabinet because Sharon was not offered a senior portfolio.

Netanyahu promised to find a place for Sharon, and Levy agreed to join the government. Netanyahu tried to form an “infrastructures” ministry for Sharon, but was blocked by other ministers who refused to yield any of their authority.