The nature of the cabinet reshuffle that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is planning will begin to become clear today, following the court ruling in the trial of MK Haim Ramon.

An acquittal, even it is only based on "reasonable doubt," will pave Ramon's return to the Justice Ministry, something Olmert would like to see happen.

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A conviction will accelerate the reshuffle, and possibly broaden it. In such circumstances, the justice portfolio, which is currently being tended by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, will be passed to the prime minister's close associate, Interior Minister Roni Bar-On. That will leave the Interior Ministry vacant, a portfolio that Yisrael Beiteinu is expected to demand as the second ministry it had been promised for joining the coalition.

Labor will ask for the Social Welfare Ministry, which Olmert is currently holding, and for the appointment of Ghaleb Majadele, who earlier this week was approved as minister without portfolio, as minister of culture, science and sports.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz, for the time being, is not part of the reshuffle. It is clear to Olmert that this is the sort of change that can only be carried out with the Labor leader's agreement.

In the meantime, says aides to Olmert, the prime minister has been busy preparing for his appearance tomorrow before the Winograd Committee investigating the Lebanon War, and that only after he has testified will he have the time to focus on the cabinet reshuffle.

It appears that Olmert will carry out the changes in the cabinet in stages, as the various question marks hanging over his government become clearer. For example, if it appears that the investigation pertaining to Finance Minister Abraham Hirchson picks up speed, Olmert may find himself having to fill another post in his cabinet.

But the big question remains the Defense Ministry, where Peretz is hinting that it's business as usual.