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Sources: Netanyahu to be finance minister
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Benjamin Netanyahu, ousted as Israel's foreign minister, accepted Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's offer to become finance minister Thursday, reversing his earlier decision to reject the job, political sources said. Netanyahu, prime minister from 1996 to 1999, will be asked to quickly turn around Israel's economy, battered by a global slowdown and nearly 2.5 years of Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He replaces Silvan Shalom, a Sharon ally who was named on Wednesday to take over as foreign minister. The move was widely seen as a bid to sideline the hawkish Netanyahu, Sharon's main rival for leadership of their Likud party. Netanyahu, who has pressed Sharon to take an even harder line against a Palestinian uprising, had originally been expected to remain foreign minister in the coalition the prime minister is forming after Likud's election victory in January. Sharon instead offered Netanyahu the finance ministry -- a step down in the Cabinet hierarchy -- and the prime minister's office said he at first turned it down Wednesday. But after Sharon aides urged him to reconsider, Netanyahu agreed to take the job if he received expanded powers. Political sources said Sharon granted him broader control over company privatizations and independence in implementing economic policy. The economy has been in recession for more than two years and there is little prospect of a rebound soon. Shalom took most of the blame, losing the favor of Sharon and the confidence of financial markets and investors. Financial markets cheered the news of Netanyahu's appointment, with main stock indices up 2.7 to 3.7 percent in late trading, while the shekel gained to 4.8410 to the dollar from 4.8590 Wednesday. Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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