Israel's opposition Labour party is set to enter a coalition with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's right-wing Likud Party.
Sharon needs Labour to rebuild his coalition, avert early elections and overcome rebels from his own party who are opposed to his limited withdrawal from a portion of the occupied territories.
Labour and Likud began coalition talks yesterday with Labour leader Shimon Peres, a firm backer of Sharon's "disengagement plan," saying a deal could be clinched within days.
Labour is expected to demand as many as 10 cabinet posts, but the party's chief negotiator ruled out preconditions.
"Let this be clear: There will be a government," Haim Ramon told Army Radio today. "The question is whether we will sit in this government with significant cabinet portfolios, or if we enter this government without portfolios."
"It must be remembered that we decided on this process because we want, along with the prime minister, to take the people of Israel out of Gaza," he said.
Sharon wants to evacuate all the settlements in the Gaza Strip but only four of 120 in the West Bank next year in what he claims is a bid to "disengage" from fighting with the Palestinians. Both territories were captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
However, Palestinians fear Israel will use it as a ruse to strengthen its hold on the West Bank.