PEACE PROCESS ISRAELI PLAYERS

PEACE PROCESS MAIN PLAYERS (ISRAELIS)

ARIEL SHARON

The Palestinians are especially distrustful since an official Israeli inquiry found Sharon -- who, as minister of defense, orchestrated Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon -- indirectly responsible for the massacre of several hundreds of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps outside of Beirut, Lebanon, at the hands of Christian militiamen allied with Israel.

The Palestinians also blamed Sharon for the most recent violence, claiming that his visit to a disputed Jerusalem site on September 28, 2000, endangered the push for peace. Sharon said he went to the site -- known as the Temple Mount by Jews and Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) by Muslims -- with a message of peace.

He said the violence was a premeditated campaign orchestrated by the Palestinian Authority. More on Ariel Sharon. Ariel Sharon, a barrel-framed ex-general, realized a lifelong dream when he toppled incumbent Ehud Barak, in the February 2001 special election for Israeli prime minister.Sharon won in a landslide, and when the liberal Labor party voted to join Sharon's more conservative Likud in a unity government, he was set to lead Israel during what would be a turbulent time in the nation's history.

Silvan Shalom

Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister• Shalom was finance minister when he swapped jobs with Benjamin Netanyahu as foreign minister in February 2003. Shalom retained his post of deputy prime minister in the move.• Previously he held the posts of minister of science (1998-1999) and deputy defense minister (1997-1998).•

Shalom, a trained economist and accountant, was elected to the Knesset in 1992, and was adviser to the finance minister in his early political days.• Born in Tunisia in 1958, Shalom moved to Israel with his family a year later. A journalist by profession, he is married with five children.• Shalom holds degrees in economics, accounting and law, and a master's of arts in public policy.

Benjamin Netanyahu Finance Minister•

Netanyahu accepted the post of finance minister in February 2003 after failing in his challenge to Ariel Sharon for the Likud party leadership and the post of prime minister. He had been foreign minister.• Netanyahu fought on a ticket of expelling Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the rejection in principle of a Palestinian state.•

Born in Tel Aviv 1949 and raised in Jerusalem, he studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and worked in consulting and management positions in the United States and Israel.• In the early 1970s he was a member of the elite army special operations unit, Sayeret Matcal, and helped rescue a hijacked plane at Tel Aviv airport in 1972.•

He was ambassador to the United Nations from 1984 to 1988 and has held several other key diplomatic and government posts, among them delegate to the Madrid Peace Conference in 1991 and the Washington talks, 1991-92, and deputy foreign minister.• In 1996, Netanyahu became Israel's youngest prime minister and served three years, losing to Labor Party leader Ehud Barak in 1999 elections.• He is married with three children.

Efraim Eitam Housing and Construction Minister National Religious Party•

Eitam, who was born in Kibbutz Ein Gev, entered politics after an illustrious 30-year career in the army during which he rose to brigadier general.• His hawkish NRP party joined Sharon's coalition government after winning six seats in the 2003 general election.• The party, deemed the voice of the Jewish settler movement, strongly advocates against removing or freezing of settlements.•

Eitam was appointed housing minister in March 2003, having been minister of national infrastructures from September 2002. Before that,he was minister without portfolio.• He retired from the Israel Defense Forces in 2000, having been commander of an armored division in the IDF Northern Command and commanding Israeli forces in southern Lebanon between 1998 and 1999.• He also commanded an elite commando unit in a rescue mission on a hijacked Air France airliner in Entebbe, Uganda, in 1976.

Natan Sharansky Minister Without PortfolioYisrael Ba-Aliya/Likud•

Sharansky, head of a right-wing Russian immigrants party, was born in the Ukraine in 1948.• A computer sciences graduate of the Physical Technical Institute in Moscow, he spent nine years in a Soviet prison for dissident activities. Led by his wife, the campaign for his release became an international cause celebre.• He left for Israel the day he was released, February 11, 1986, and arrived to a hero's welcome.•

Elected to the Knesset in 1996, he was interior minister in Ehud Barak's Labor government but resigned over Barak's decision to join the Palestinians for talks at Camp David in July 2000.• He has two daughters.Avigdor LiebermanTransport MinisterNational Union• Lieberman is known for fiery pronouncements such as suggesting that Israel attack Egypt and Iran in the event of an Arab offensive.• He came to Israel in 1978 from the then-Soviet republic of Moldova.

In 1999 he founded and became head of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party. He was elected to the Knesset the same year. He served in the Israel Defense Forces and was editor of the newspaper Yoman Yisraeli.• Born in 1958, he is married with three children. He has a degree in international relations and political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Benyamin Elon Tourism Minister National Union•

When Elon was appointed tourism minister in February 2003, it was for the second time in his career, having resigned from his first stint in March 2002.• He had taken over from Rechavam Ze'evi when Palestinian gunmen assassinated the minister in a Jerusalem hotel in October 2001.• Born in Jerusalem in 1954, Elon served as a chaplain in the Israel Defense Forces and later as a rabbi of a kibbutz.• A Knesset member since 1996, he is married with six children.

Avraham Poraz Interior Minister Shinui•

Poraz, first elected to the Knesset in 1988, has held a number of committee posts including finance, economics and internal affairs.• The law graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has also sat on the constitution, law and justice committees.• Born in Romania in 1945, he came with his family to Israel five years later. He speaks Hebrew, English, French and Romanian.• He is married and has two children.