TEL AVIV, Nov 2: Binyamin Netanyahu is expected to turn down the post of Israeli foreign minister, in what would be a blow to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s efforts to put together a narrow right-wing coalition.

“He is not enthused at the prospect of playing second fiddle to Sharon,” a confidant of Netanyahu, a former premier and Sharon’s main rival in the ruling rightist Likud party, said on Saturday.

Sharon offered Netanyahu the post on Friday and they were due to meet again on Sunday, after the Jewish Sabbath.

As political activity slowed for the Sabbath, the Israeli army said it had arrested five Palestinians in the West Bank. Two of them were caught concealing an explosives belt of the type used in suicide bombings in their car, the army said.

The government crisis was triggered by a dispute over funding for Jewish settlements in the occupied territories which led to a walkout by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and other ministers of the Labour Party, Likud’s coalition partner.

Netanyahu wants to take over from Sharon as prime minister rather than be his subordinate, but turning down the foreign ministry could split a party still reeling from the Labour walkout and scrambling to stay in power.

“At this difficult time for the state of Israel, during which Mr Netanyahu’s communication skills could contribute enormously to Israel’s information campaign in the world, he was offered the post pure-heartedly,” Sharon’s bureau director, Dov Weisglas, told Israeli Army Radio.

Netanyahu was expected to announce his decision after meeting Sharon on Sunday, Weisglas added. Sharon, 74-years old and mired in the worst political crisis since he took power last year, stands to gain whether his rival accepts his offer or turns it down, analysts said.

Sharon has offered the key defence portfolio to Shaul Mofaz — a former army chief remembered for designing Israel’s tough countermeasures to the Palestinian revolt — replacing Labour leader Binyamin Ben-Eliezer.—Reuters