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Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak MESSAGE BOARD: Mideast peace RELATED VIDEO CNN's Jerrold Kessel reports on Barak's first political setback. (July 5) Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Jerrold Kessel reports on how Israel's new leader is building his government (July 5) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

July 6, 1999
Web posted at: 2:17 a.m. EDT (0617 GMT)

From staff and wire reports

TEL AVIV, Israel (CNN) -- On the eve of taking office, Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak finalized his Cabinet appointments, saying his new government would work to bring peace to the Middle East.

After seven weeks of coalition negotiations, Barak was set to present his government to parliament on Tuesday, where it is assured of approval, holding 75 of the Knesset's 120 members.

"I know we have thousands of problems on the public agenda," Barak told his Labor Party's central committee in Tel Aviv. "(But) nothing is more important in my view than that supreme mission -- to strengthen the security of Israel by putting an end to the 100-year conflict in the Middle East."

Choice for Knesset speaker rejected

However, Barak hit an early snag Monday when his choice for Knesset speaker, political unknown Shalom Simchon, was rejected by his party's central committee. The party instead chose Avraham Burg, a highly respected veteran who once accused Barak of "dictatorial" leadership.

Some top party colleagues have raised questions about Barak's desire for total control, but others downplayed the setback.

"In Israeli politics you don't always get the right man in the right place," said Public Security Minister nominee Shlomo Ben-Ami.

Women's groups also expressed their disappointment with the new government, saying it failed to increase Cabinet representation for women.

"He chose loyal men and bowed to constraints instead of selecting excellent, superb women," said Knesset member Naomi Chazan.

The appointments for the 18-member Cabinet come from seven parties with a wide range of ideologies. The list contained few surprises but was a disappointment for some prominent Labor Party figures.

Barak's predecessor as party leader, former Prime Minister Shimon Peres, grudgingly accepted a vaguely defined post of regional cooperation minister. He had sought a post leading peace negotiations.

Barak reserved the key defense minister's post for himself and named as foreign minister the Moroccan-born David Levy, from the Gesher party. Levy had held the same position under Netanyahu, but broke with the hard-line leader to bring his small party into an alliance with Labor before the elections.

Four spots went to the ultra-orthodox Shas party. The construction ministry was handed to the National Religious Party, a hawk on peace and a patron of Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza.

Palestinians anxiously awaiting Barak's moves

Barak's immediate steps concerning the peace process remain unclear.

He telephoned Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat over the weekend and the two agreed to meet soon, Barak's office said. Ben-Ami said the meeting would probably be next week.

The new environment minister, Dalia Itzik, said Barak and Arafat would focus on rebuilding trust.

"In the first meeting, most likely (what) they will do is create a new atmosphere ... a climate for talks that did not exist until now," Itzik said.

President Clinton, who was in Hazard, Kentucky, spoke briefly Monday with Barak, who is expected to visit Washington within a few weeks.

White House officials said the leaders discussed the possibility of a visit, though no date was set.

In a challenge for Barak's peace policies, bulldozers cleared land Monday for a planned Jewish settlement in an Arab neighborhood of the eastern sector of Jerusalem -- largely a legacy of Netanyahu's outgoing government.

The Palestinians have demanded Barak halt Jewish settlement expansion.

"The first thing we want is a very clear position regarding settlements. We cannot say that there's a peace process while the land confiscation, settlement activity, settlement expansion are taking place," said Palestinian Council Speaker Ahmed Qorei.

Incoming Finance Minister Avraham Shochat said, "There will be a committee headed by the prime minister that will check every building in every settlement, to give what is elementary to the needs of the people but not destroy the peace process."

Meanwhile, hundreds of Egyptian politicians, artists and writers stomped on Israeli and American flags to protest a Cairo conference Monday aimed at promoting closer ties between Israel and Arab countries.

The protesters argued that Arabs should have no relations with the Jewish state until it withdraws from all territories it occupied after the 1967 Mideast war, including eastern Jerusalem.

Later, about 250 Palestinians, Jordanians, Egyptians and Israelis met to advocate peace between Arabs and Israelis. Their three-day conference hopes to take inspiration from Barak's election.

Correspondent Jerrold Kessel, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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