JERUSALEM, June 25: The right-wing government of Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu survived a no-confidence motion in the Knesset parliament on Tuesday night but emerged weakened by the narrow margin of victory.A total of 55 coalition members supported the government compared to 50 who voted against it.

The blow for Netanyahu came from the 13 coalition members and Likud Party colleagues who voiced their lack of faith in Netanyahu by abstaining or absenting themselves from the chamber.

The most prominent of these was Foreign Minister David Levy who earlier in the day had weighed resignation.

The string of coalition mutinies and criticism from within his own Likud Party further weakened Netanyahu's shaky government, which has been wracked by controversy since it took power 13 months ago.

The motion was tabled by the left-wing Meretz Party over the government's handling of the economy in the aftermath of last week's resignation of Finance Minister Dan Meridor. In a move which will strengthen the hardliners in the government, Netanyahu plans to appoint the hawkish Ariel Sharon to take Meridor's place in an expanded finance ministry. This would make the former general the dominant minister in the government.

A majority of 61 of the Knesset's 120 members must vote against the government for it to be toppled.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.