Peres Claims Enough Votes to Form New Israeli Government
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JERUSALEM — Labor Party leader Shimon Peres announced today that he has enough votes to form a government and that he has requested a special Parliament session to approve the new coalition.
Peres notified President Chaim Herzog that he has succeeded in getting majority backing in the 120-member Parliament, known as the Knesset, to replace the coalition that collapsed March 15.
Before the announcement, observers believed Peres had only 60 assured votes.
Israel army radio said a defector from Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s right-wing Likud bloc has signed an agreement with Labor. It identified the legislator as Avraham Sharir, a former tourism minister. Labor officials have refused comment on the reports.
With a Parliament vote not likely until Sunday, Likud has time to try to lure Sharir and other potential Labor coalition partners back into its fold.
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