Civilians fill key Israeli positions

Israel is to have a civilian prime minister and a civilian defense minister for the first time after it emerged that the Labor leader, Amir Peretz, would head the armed forces.

Coalition negotiations have been going on for almost a month but the two main parties, Kadima and Labor, agreed on the division of posts over the weekend. The government's priority policy will be the evacuation of dozens of settlements in the West Bank.

Labor will have the education and defense portfolios and Kadima will have finance, interior and foreign affairs, according to reports leaked to the Israeli media. Negotiations are continuing with other parties.

The media focused on Sunday on the fact that two important security portfolios would be held by politicians with limited security experience. The prime minister's office is in charge of Israel's secret services and the defense ministry controls the armed forces and the Palestinian areas.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was an army journalist during his conscription and Peretz an ordnance officer. Most recent Israeli prime ministers and defense ministers have had long and distinguished military careers and critics have derided the new team as a former mayor (Olmert) and a union leader (Peretz).

Stuart Cohen, a professor of political science at Bar Ilan University, said it was the first time that two non-military men had occupied both posts.

"It's an event of some significance. It shows that Israel is less militaristic than many people assume and it shows that national priorities have changed from security to social matters," he said.

Peretz's appointment has raised alarm bells throughout Israel. One commentator described it as an "important and fascinating experiment ... with the most explosive potential imaginable."

Peretz served in the paratroop regiment and was badly injured in an exercise in 1974. He became a local politician and union leader and surprised the country when he defeated Shimon Peres to lead the Labor party into the last election.

He will be expected to take the lead in preventing the firing of rockets at Israel from Gaza, stopping bombers getting in to Israel from the West Bank and dealing with the Palestinian government. He will also be involved in planning Israel's policy on Iran's nuclear program.

Sources close to Peretz said he had not indicated any particular direction but they expected him be consistent with his campaign platforms.

"We have moved on from a situation where the chief of staff acted like a chief of staff, the defense minister acted like a chief of staff and the prime minister acted like a chief of staff," the source said.

"Mr Peretz has been very clear in his priorities throughout the coalition talks. He has talked about dismantling the illegal settlements, differentiating between the Palestinian people and the Hamas government, and Mahmoud Abbas and the Hamas government," the source said.

Peretz will replace Shaul Mofaz, who went from being chief of staff to minister of defense and was seen as a hardliner and advocate of assassinating Palestinian militants.