Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has narrowly survived three no-confidence motions which threatened to bring down his fragile government. Opposition parties failed to muster enough support from Knesset (parliament) members after the ultra-nationalist National Union-Yisrael Beitenu Party abstained from voting. The Knesset also approved the appointment of former Israeli army chief Shaul Mofaz as the new defence minister following the resignation of former defence minister and Labor leader, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, last week . The votes came shortly after an explosion rocked a shopping centre near the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. The blast happened in the town of Kfar Saba, close to the West Bank, just after 1825 local time (1615 GMT). Reports say a suicide bomber and two Israelis were killed and at least 20 other people were injured.