Acting Prime Minister Shimon Peres gave himself the additional title of defense minister Tuesday as he named the members of his new Cabinet.
Peres said he moved quickly to assure a smooth transition after the Nov. 4 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. (See story on A5.)"Our plan was to establish a government at the earliest opportunity in order not to leave a crisis situation in the country," Peres said.
In a major change, Interior Minister Ehud Barak, a popular and articulate former army chief, was named foreign minister, but for the most part the Cabinet was similar to Rabin's.
Peres said he would present his new government to parliament on Wednesday for what was expected to be easy approval.
Peres formed the same coalition that was in power at the time of Rabin's death. It consists of Peres' Labor Party, the dovish Meretz bloc and the small Yeud faction, a breakaway of the right-wing opposition Tzomet Party.
Labor controls 44 seats in the 120-member parliament, Meretz has 12 and Yeud as two, for a total of 58. Five Arab legislators also side with Labor, guaranteeing a 63-57 vote on most issues.
Peres has been trying to negotiate an understanding with the religious Shas Party, which doesn't oppose his peace policies outright, but won't join the coalition. In a nod to Shas and other religious factions, Peres signed a letter attached to the coalition agreements that said the government would observe the status quo on religious matters.
Meretz, which has campaigned against what it calls religious coercion in Israel, was given a veto right on religious legislation.