Special report:Israel's General Election

    JERUSALEM, April 28 (Xinhua) -- An agreement signed Thursday evening between Israel's centrist Kadima party and the center-left Labor party called on the new government to "shape the permanent borders of the state as a Jewish state with a democratic majority," the Ha'aretz reported Friday.

    The agreement states explicitly that the territory of the settlement in Judea and Samaria (in the West Bank) will be "reduced."

    The two major parties, Kadima and Labor, signed a coalition deal Thursday evening. The deal, which was clinched after weeks of talks, details the government's platform and appointments that Labor will receive.

    Meanwhile, the agreement said that the shaping of the borders should proceed "through negotiation and agreement with the Palestinians on the basis of mutual recognition, previously-signed agreements, the principles outlined in the roadmap, an end to violence and the disarmament of the terror organizations."

    "If the Palestinians do not act in accordance with these conditions in the near term, the Israeli government will take action in the absence of negotiations," the agreement said.

    The platform also covers socioeconomic issues, such as raising minimum wage, improving the health system, fighting corruption, increasing the state budget and instituting educational reforms, Ha'aretz reported.

    The Kadima party, led by interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, has signed coalition deals with the Labor and Gil Pensioners Party respectively since it won the March 28 parliamentary elections with 29 seats, paving the way for a new Israeli government to be sworn in.

    Olmert had vowed before the elections to unilaterally set Israel's final borders by 2010 based on the so-called convergence plan, under which Israel will withdraw from isolated settlements in the West Bank but keep bigger ones. Enditem