From One Loser to Another: Peretz Replaced by Barak as DM

Peretz Ousted; Barak to Take Over Defense Portfolio, by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz (IsraelNN.com)

Excerpts;

In addition to losing the leadership of the Labor party to Ehud Barak last week, Amir Peretz is to lose his current government appointment as Defense Minister to Barak, as well. Peretz is reportedly “boiling mad” over the speed with which he has been ousted and replaced.

Peretz is reportedly “boiling mad” over the speed with which he has been ousted and replaced.

Barak’s appointment to the Defense Ministry was approved by the cabinet in a round of phone voting on Friday afternoon. The vote will be confirmed at the next cabinet meeting on Sunday and voted on by the Knesset on Monday. Olmert and Barak agreed on the replacement of Peretz, and the immediate telephone vote, during a meeting between the two leaders Friday morning.

On Saturday night, Peretz convened a meeting of his top advisers and supporters to decide how to deal with his ouster. Sources close to Peretz say that he is “boiling mad” over how quickly Barak is moving into his job. “He is starting off in a very bad way, and his behavior is wrong,” said one source close to Amir Peretz, adding that Barak was “acting out of vengeful spite” by engineering Peretz’s quick firing.