The Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, today offered the post of foreign minister to Benjamin Netanyahu, his main rival in the right-wing Likud party.
Netanyahu, a former prime minister and hard-liner who has accused Sharon of not going far enough to quell a Palestinian uprising, would move a new Israeli government in the making even farther to the right.
He would also present a sharp contrast to Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who resigned when the centre-left Labour Party pulled out of Sharon's coalition government on Wednesday.
An Israeli diplomatic source said Sharon, now trying to build a narrow right-wing government, agreed to hold a second meeting with Netanyahu on Sunday during the talks at the prime minister's ranch in southern Israel.
"The talks lasted for 90 minutes and it was an excellent meeting," the source said.
Sharon asked Netanyahu to join the government "on the basis of the guidelines of the current government and to work together on the challenges facing Israel," the source said.
Palestinians have already expressed alarm at Sharon's offer of the defence portfolio to former army chief Shaul Mofaz, who has advocated expelling Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
Netanyahu has also called for Arafat's ousting and if they both join the government, Sharon would probably be caught between their hawkish views and U.S. opposition to such a move.
Cabinet minister Danny Naveh said Sharon would begin formal talks on Sunday with prospective partners in a narrow government following the collapse of his broad coalition on Wednesday, when the Labour Party quit over funding for Jewish settlements.
Sharon has already put out feelers to the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party. Its seven lawmakers could restore his legislative majority after Labour's departure whittled his hold on the assembly down to 55 of 120 seats.
A rightward lurch in Israel could hinder international efforts to coax it and the Palestinians into defusing violence as well as U.S. attempts to get Arab support on Iraq.