Netanyahu desperate for Barak in gov't

[bemildred]

Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu is so determined to have Labor chairman Ehud Barak as his defense minister that he is willing to give him the portfolio even if Barak is unable to bring his entire Labor faction into the coalition, sources close to Netanyahu said Monday, confirming a Channel 1 report.

Barak is determined to bring Labor into Netanyahu's coalition, but he is facing a potential rebellion inside his faction that could lead to a split. Factions can only break up legally if one third of its MKs leave, which in Labor's case would require five of the 13 Labor legislators.

"Even if he can only deliver a third he could remain defense minister," a source close to Barak said, adding that if Barak decided to quit the Knesset and join the government on his own without Labor, he would not receive the portfolio.

Netanyahu's associates explained that not only did Netanyahu trust Barak's security expertise, he also wanted a defense minister seen as dovish by the world in order to ease the international image of his government. In their Tel Aviv meeting on Sunday night, Barak told Netanyahu, "You need us more than we need you."

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