Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu has begun trying to repair his relationship with party rival MK Silvan Shalom, and is in the process of building a "mega-portfolio" in an effort to appease him, sources close to Netanyahu said Tuesday.
Netanyahu has not been persuaded to give Shalom the vice prime minister's title he desires, but is prepared to combine two portfolios, such as the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry and the Transportation Ministry, and give him the lesser title of vice premier. The difference between the two titles is that the vice prime minister takes over for an incapacitated prime minister, as happened to former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
