The lights burned late in the treasury and Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday night as aides to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Finance Minister Roni Bar-On worked to reach an agreement.

It is reported that the difference regarding an economic bail-out plan between the two senior ministers are vast – with Olmert seeking to exert his authority, but resistance from Bar-On remains formidable.

The finance minister has been under mounting criticism, being accused of falling asleep at the wheel, as the nation slips further into the global economic crisis. A major Histadrut labor federation looms overhead, and unemployment continues to rise, while Bar-On is releasing statements signaling a desire or willingness to assist the ailing top-earners, the tycoons, while he is not exhibiting the same positive signals regarding pension funds.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)