Anger over bloated Israel Cabinet

JERUSALEM, Tuesday

Israel’s new government was under attack today even before it was sworn in for being so bloated with ministers at a time of global belt-tightening that it needs an extra cabinet table.

Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, now leader of a right-leaning coalition, will preside over a Cabinet of 30 ministers and eight deputy ministers after the government is inaugurated later in the day.

The swollen administration, say critics, is the result of too many job promises to sweeten coalition allies.

The outgoing centre-left coalition of Mr Ehud Olmert had 27 ministers.

An opposition Bill submitted to the 120-member Knesset on Monday proposed setting a limit on the size of the government.

Public money

The left-leaning daily Haaretz reminded readers that a member of Mr Netanyahu’s own right-wing Likud party in the last parliament asserted that anything more than 18 ministers would be a “waste of public money”.

In another development, an Israeli air strike killed two Palestinian militants in the central Gaza Strip close to the border fence with Israel, medical workers said today .

Residents of nearby Maghazi refugee camp, said a helicopter fired two missiles at militants who had launched a rocket-propelled grenade at an Israeli force.

Two militants

The medical workers said two militants were killed and two other gunmen were wounded. Relatives of the dead said the militants were members of the armed wing of Hamas, the Islamist faction that controls the Gaza Strip.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said fire was directed against militants who tried to plant explosive devices along the border fence.

One Israeli soldier was lightly wounded in the clash.

The clash was the first confirmed confrontation in the Gaza Strip this month in which militants have been killed in action with Israeli forces.

Israel ended a 22-day offensive in the territory on January 18. (Reuters)