Israel's small Centre Party has accepted an invitation to join Prime Minister Ariel Sharon coalition government.
The Centre Party has five members in Israel's 120-seat parliament, the Knesset.
Mr Sharon has promised top jobs to three of them, all former members of his right-wing Likud party.
Mr Roni Milo, a Centre Party member who will become minister of regional cooperation, says the decision is a pragmatic one.
"It is preferable to be inside the government and have an influence on decisions and processes," he said.
After Mr Sharon won a landslide election victory in February, he forged a broad coalition, bringing in parties that appeared to have sharp differences with him.
Mr Sharon said the country needed a national unity government to deal with the current Middle East crisis.
In addition, he sought a government that was not prone to collapse, as has been the case with several recent Israeli governments in the highly fractured parliament.
PA