By Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service Last update - 09:14 24/03/2009 www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1073506.html

Labor chairman Ehud Barak and Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu reached
understandings on Tuesday morning for a coalition deal between their two
parties.

The negotiating teams, which spent the night in last-minute talks, were
expected to initial the agreement before a meeting of Labor's central
committee later in the day, to which it will brought for approval.

According to the clauses in the deal being drafted, Israel will formulate a
comprehensive plan for Middle East peace and cooperation, continue peace
negotiations and will commit itself to peace accords already signed.

The government will also enforce the law with regards to illegal West Bank
outposts, the draft states, as well as illegal Palestinian construction.

Barak, who is also the outgoing Defense Minister, was set to face a dramatic
political test at the central committee meeting, when he asks the 1,470
members of the committee to approve the deal he has hatched with Prime
Minister-designate Netanyahu.

While Netanyahu left the site of the talks in Ramat Gan by the mid-morning,
Barak and his negotiators stayed on for further discussions, according to
Army Radio.

In addition, Barak was to ask his party to give him the authority to
determine which of the party's 13 Knesset members will be appointed to
ministerial positions - a demand which is without precedent and which would
require an amendment to the party's constitution.

Should Barak get the approval he is seeking, the rift between opponents of
the coalition deal and its supporters would deepen still further; seven of
the party's MKs - more than half - oppose the agreement.

All the signs are that the vote will be close and no one in the party is
willing to predict which way members of the central committee will vote.

Opponents of Barak's proposal to join the coalition yesterday launched a
particularly vitriolic broadside against their party leader, accusing him of
"trying to turn Labor into Yisrael Beiteinu" and of "acting as if he got 50
seats in the Knesset, rather than suffering an electoral whipping."

The internal battle between Barak and the seven MKs who oppose him - Shelly
Yachimovich, Ophir Pines-Paz, Eitan Cabel, Daniel Ben Simon, Amir Peretz,
Yuli Tamir and Avishay Braverman - was taken up a notch on Monday when the
Labor rebels sent an unprecedented letter to Netanyahu and his foreign
minister-designate, Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman, in which they
declared that they will not be bound by the coalition agreement that Labor
and Likud are working on, since Barak was acting without authority.

"This is the first time in the history of the Labor Party," they wrote,
"that the chairman has set up a coalition negotiating team without a
thorough and extensive discussion within the party and without getting the
approval of any of the party's organs. It is a gross violation of the
party's constitution." The rebels also warned Netanyahu of the consequences
of Barak's actions. "You should know," they wrote, "that the negotiating
team established by the 'Barak faction' within the Labor Party does not
enjoy our backing or the backing of any authorized party official. It is
unfortunate that the party chairman chose to manage party matters in this
way. Given the circumstances, we must inform you that you cannot count on
our support regarding any agreement that you may reach with Ehud Barak."

Barak spoke later in the day with several of the MKs who oppose his
proposals, telling them, "there is no legal impediment against establishing
a negotiation team, and I will be happy to brief the party MKs on its
progress. It is our duty to hold a legitimate political debate - on what is
right for the State of Israel, on what the citizens want and on what is good
for the party - instead of writing fallacious letters," Barak was quoted as
saying.

Former Israel Defense Forces chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon (Likud),
meanwhile, afforded Netanyahu a small measure of satisfaction on Monday when
he declared that, given current circumstances, personal and party
differences should be set aside in favor of the national interest. Until a
few days ago, Ya'alon was considered the leading candidate to serve as
defense minister in Netanyahu's government - a position that would remain
with Barak if Labor does, indeed, join the coalition.

Can you say hello PLO state and goodbye Golan.