Israeli Finance Minister Quits
Israeli Finance Minister Ya'acov Ne'eman has told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he intends to resign, Israel's state-owned Channel One Television reported on Tuesday.
It said Ne'eman told Netanyahu he would resign in writing on his return next week from a vacation abroad. Ne'eman's spokesman Motti Sherf declined comment on the report but a ministry source said: "I wouldn't deny what was reported on the television."
"All we can say is we confirm that Finance Minister Ne'eman requested to tender his resignation before he went on his holiday and that the Prime Minister said they will discuss this on his return," said Netanyahu spokesman Aviv Bushinsky.
The television report gave no reason for Ne'eman's decision. It said Netanyahu had asked Ne'eman to delay his resignation until the end of a visit to the region by President Clinton on Tuesday.
Ne'eman, a technocrat, offered earlier this month to quit if his departure would help Netanyahu form a national unity government with the main opposition Labor party.
Netanyahu is struggling to stay in power amid hardline opposition in his right-wing coalition to his agreement to a land-for-security accord with the Palestinians. He faces a no-confidence vote in parliament next Monday.
Efforts by Netanyahu to woo back former Foreign Minister David Levy to the coalition collapsed last week when the Israeli leader refused to meet Levy's demand to be given the finance ministry.
It was unclear who would take Ne'eman's place in the cabinet.
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