Sharon Forms New Advisory Panel

TEL AVIV: Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon has scrapped a panel of security advisors that included his foreign and defense ministers, in favor of a larger grouping dominated by right-wing political parties.

Sharon abandoned his so-called kitchen cabinet, made up of himself, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer. Both Peres and Ben-Eliezer are members of Israel's center-left Labor party.

The grouping had been used to frame major political and military decisions before presenting them to the wider cabinet.

The new advisory panel includes all party leaders in Sharon's cabinet, which has been expanded to include the right-wing National Religious Party and the center-right Gesher party. The NRP backs the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza.