Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Acting Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit are expected to meet on Wednesday to discuss the appointment of Sheetrit to the post of justice minister starting next week.

The meeting comes amid recent speculation that Olmert plans to appoint another minister as justice minister now that the three-month cap on having a ministry run by an acting minister is reaching an end.

Sheetrit has served as acting justice minister since Haim Ramon resigned from his post in August.

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The appointment will be considered a permanent one, but with the understanding that the appointee will leave the post if it is decided that former justice minister Ramon - who is currently on trial on charges of forcibly kissing a female soldier - will be able to resume his previous duties.

Sheetrit said during a tour of the south on Tuesday that Olmert had already agreed about three months ago, when Ramon resigned, that Sheetrit would stay in the post until it became clear whether Ramon could return.

In a television interview last week, Sheetrit told Channel 1 that he sees no reason that Ramon would be unable to resume serving as justice minister if he is fully acquitted in court.

Sheetrit is said to have been careful to spell out his agreement with Olmert at the outset since Olmert broke his pre-election promise to appoint him finance minister.

However, some suspect that Olmert wants to appoint a political official who is close to him as justice minister so that such an appointee could pressure the judicial system to stop investigating cases that implicate Olmert.

Such cases include alleged political appointments in the Israel Small and Medium Enterprises Authority and the sale of Bank Leumi.

Nonetheless, judicial officials said they did not understand why Olmert would want to appoint any minister other than Sheetrit given that Ramon could return to his post within a few weeks.