Yasser Arafat won a rare political victory yesterday from a skeptical Palestinian parliament that approved his new 19-member Cabinet.
After a stormy debate in Ramallah, the legislators voted 56 to 18 to ratify the appointment of ministers Arafat claimed will carry out reforms demanded by the Bush administration.
But the Cabinet has only five new members, and in one of the changes Arafat replaced his interior minister, Abdel-Razzak al-Yahya, whose appointment had been welcomed by the United States.
“Some ministers here were supposed to be put on trial for their corruption, and now they are part of the new government,” said lawmaker Muawiyah al-Masri.
An angry Arafat cut off debate at one point, telling a critical legislator, “You are not allowed to talk about the members of the executive committee, you are not allowed!”
A rebellion by Palestinian lawmakers last month forced Arafat’s appointees to resign before they could be confirmed.
This time, Arafat, who has been confined to Ramallah off and on by Israeli troops, warned that a defeat for his nominees could mean the end of the Palestinian Authority.
The Israeli government cautiously welcomed the new Cabinet’s approval, saying it would be judged by its actions.
“If there will be good security performance by the Palestinians, then we will be able to embark on a road map to fulfill the target of a Palestinian state,” Yaffa Ben-Ari, a Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, said. With Post Wire Services