Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima party and the centre-left Labour Party will sign a coalition agreement today to form the backbone of a new government, a Kadima spokesman said.
Kadima won the most votes in Israel's March 28th general election, but it needs the support of Labour and several other smaller parties for a parliamentary majority.
"Today at 3:30pm (1.30pm Irish time) the Kadima and Labour negotiating teams will meet to sign a coalition agreement," a Kadima party spokesman said in a statement after several weeks of negotiations.
The deal, which could enable Mr Olmert to form a government by early May, was reached in a meeting between the acting prime minister and Labour leader Amir Peretz.
Under the deal, Labour will receive seven cabinet posts in the new government, including the senior Defence Ministry portfolio, which Mr Peretz will hold.
Mr Olmert is seeking to form a broad coalition with more than 80 seats in the 120-member parliament. He will likely need a strong majority in order to pursue his plan to pull out of parts of the occupied West Bank, while strengthening Jewish settlements in other sections of the territory, in the absence of peace talks with the Palestinians.
On Wednesday, Kadima signed a deal bringing the seven-seat Pensioners Party into the government. With the Pensioners Party and Labour on board, Mr Olmert would control 55 seats in the Knesset.
Kadima is also expected to reach an agreement with the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, which won 12 parliamentary seats in the election.