In a vote by the party s Central Committee, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer defeated two other candidates. Ha aretz says that Prime Minster-elect Ariel Sharon hopes to speed up the coalition negotiations by assuming a more active role in the discussions. Reportedly, he wants to take office Wednesday if he can finalize the membership of his government coalition. Israeli police and security officials are tying Thursday s bombing of a taxi carrying passengers from Tel Aviv s train station to Tiberias to a Palestinian terrorist s efforts to set off a bomb on Tel Aviv s Allenby Street on Wednesday. One person was killed and nine were injured, including the suspected terrorist.
Controversy continues over the construction at the Temple Mount.
The Temple Mount Faithful have asked the courts to force a halt to excavations in the area by Moslems who administer the site. Prime Minister Barak asked police to meet with Moslem wakf officials in an effort to insure that any construction be coordinated with police and supervised by archaeologists. The Jerusalem Post reports that outgoing Prime Minister Barak may have been the one who persuaded President Clinton to pardon financier Marc Rich. And high school teachers are back in the classroom. The teachers agreed to end the walkout to give incoming Prime Minster Sharon time to address the teachers salary demands.