Barak to announce government on Wednesday, sources say

Diplomatic sources in Cairo expected that the new Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak, will proclaim his government on May 26. Barak has already started his contacts with representatives of the Israeli parties to from a coalition government.

The sources said there are two choices for Ehud Barak: to seek the help of the large Likud party which came out of the vote very weak, winning only 19 seats out of 120 in the Knesset, or to seek the help of Shas, the religious extremist party, which gained the most ground in the elections, winning 17 seats.

Meanwhile, Barak did not reveal the outcome of his contacts, refusing to specify a final date for announcing the govermnet in light of the span of 45 days allotted by the constitution to form his government.

Barak is expected to announce soon the outlines of his policy in the future, upon which the formation of the governmental coalition will be based.

Barak's office received 20,000 messages from Israeli citizens calling for not including Shas in the government.