JERUSALEM, April 4: Israel’s new government began to take shape on Tuesday as acting premier and Kadima party leader Ehud Olmert announced he would seek a coalition with Labour to fix the borders of the Jewish state. The announcement came as coma-stricken Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who blazed a trail for Olmert’s project by pulling Israel out of the Gaza Strip, suffered a fresh setback hours before he was to undergo skull surgery.

Following his Kadima party’s victory in last week’s general election, Olmert has pledged to set the final borders of Israel by 2010 — with or without agreement from the Palestinian Authority.

With Kadima holding only 29 of the 120 seats up for grabs, Olmert will have to cobble together a broad coalition willing to pull some 70,000 Israelis out of the occupied West Bank in exchange for permanent control over large blocs where most of the quarter of a million-strong settler population lives.

After several days of sniping at each other, Olmert and Labour leader Amir Peretz announced they would work towards forming a coalition which will still need the support of several other smaller parties.

“We are glad to announce that President Moshe Katsav appoints me to form a government, Mr Olmert said.—AFP