Travel  |  Business World  |  Women's World  |  Entertainment

Change Your Life!

After overwhelming victory Sharon faces immediate challenges

News
Sports
Chat
Travel
Dhaka Today
Yellow Pages
Higher Education
Ask a Doctor
Weather
Currency Rate
Horoscope
E-Cards
B2K Poll
Comment on the Site
B2K Club

February 8, 2001 

JERUSALEM-(AP) - A day after his lopsided election win, Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon stood before the massive tan stones of the Western Wall on Wednesday and proclaimed Jerusalem the "eternal and indivisible capital of Israel."

Sharon made his comments - which pointedly counter Palestinians claims to the city - just a few short paces from a disputed hilltop shrine he visited amid great controversy last September.

Last time around, Sharon's trip to the adjoining Temple Mount unleashed Palestinian fury over what they call the Noble Sanctuary. A violent uprising followed that contributed to the downfall of outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and which continues to this day.

Sharon's appearance Wednesday at the Western Wall, which forms one exterior wall of the Temple Mount and is controlled by Israel, was not nearly as provocative as his previous visit.

Still, his remarks just outside Jerusalem's most bitterly contested religious site were loaded with political symbolism.

"I am visiting Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish people for the past 3,000 years, and the eternal and indivisible capital of Israel, with the Temple Mount at its center for all eternity," Sharon said.

Visiting the Western Wall, the holiest site for Jewish prayer, is a tradition among newly elected Israeli prime ministers. With bodyguards clustered nearby, Sharon held a prayer book in one hand and rubbed the rough stone wall, standing in place for a moment without speaking.

Dozens of Orthodox Jews in black coats and hats looked on in the plaza, while some onlookers scrambled onto rooftops for a view. "Only Sharon will bring peace," said one man.

Sharon has repeatedly emphasized his commitment to keeping all of Jerusalem under full Israeli control - a major point of contention with the Palestinians, who are seeking the city's eastern sector for the capital of a future state.

The contested Jerusalem hilltop is home to two mosques built atop the buried ruins of the biblical Jewish Temples.

Israel claims sovereignty - something Sharon's previous visit emphasized. But Muslims have day-to-day control of the hilltop compound, while Jews pray at the Western Wall below.

The visit came a day after Sharon routed Barak in one of the most one-sided elections in Israel's history, 62.5 percent to 37.4 percent, in a ballot seen as a referendum on Mideast peacemaking.

The triumph capped a remarkable political comeback for the burly Sharon, 72, who until recently had been written off by some as too old and too controversial to ever lead an Israeli government.

However, Sharon will have precious little time to savor his victory: he must quickly forge a government from the unruly factions in parliament, and faces hostile Palestinians deeply suspicious of his intentions.

Palestinian leaders indicated Wednesday they would be willing to work with Sharon, "as long as the new Israeli government will commit itself to the peace process," said Nabil Aburdeneh, a top aide to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

But many Palestinians see no prospect of compromise with Sharon, a former general who has been at the center of Israeli-Palestinian conflicts for the past half-century.

Arafat's Fatah faction, which tends to be more militant than the overall Palestinian leadership, called on its leaders "not to have any communication or negotiations with Sharon."

"In the wake of the election of the killer Sharon, we are calling for the escalation of the intefadeh," or uprising, the group said in a leaflet.

Sharon supporters argue that previous right-wing Israeli governments have been able to forge peace agreements despite their reputation for taking hardline positions with Arab rivals. They point to the late Menachem Begin, whose government reached Israel's first major peace deal, with Egypt in 1979.

But critics say Sharon will face a much more difficult time with the Palestinians, who have already turned down Barak's offer for a state encompassing most of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, together with a share of Jerusalem.

Sharon says negotiations won't restart until the current violence ends, and his goal is a long-term interim arrangement, not a final peace agreement.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat warned that Sharon's views on Jerusalem and other issues were a "recipe for war."

"We have to begin where the negotiations left off, we cannot go back to point zero," Erekat said, referring to Israeli-Palestinian talks two weeks ago in Egypt.

To date, Sharon has given no sign he would give the Palestinians land beyond what they control at present, which includes about two-thirds of the Gaza Strip and 42 percent of the West Bank.

But a leading member of Sharon's Likud Party acknowledged that no peace deal would be possible unless the Israelis offer more to the Palestinians.

"Everyone knows we have to make concessions," said Meir Shetreet, a Likud member of parliament. "No one imagined we could make a comprehensive peace with the Palestinians with the same land that they have yesterday."

Addressing cheering supporters at his party headquarters early Wednesday, the portly white-haired Sharon urged Barak's Labor Party to join in a broad-based national government.

Once official election results are announced, within eight days, Sharon will have 45 days to form a coalition government and get it approved by Israel's parliament, or Knesset.

Because no lawmakers' seats were at stake, Sharon inherits the same sharply divided Knesset that Barak faced. Barak, who said he would step down as Labor Party leader, is caretaker prime minister while Sharon works to form a government.

Many analysts say it could be just as difficult for Sharon to form a stable government as it was for Barak. Labor showed no immediate interest in Sharon's offer, meaning Sharon might have to settle for a narrow coalition of right-wing and religious parties.

Sharon's first hurdle will be the 2001 budget, which the Knesset must pass by March 31. If the budget is not approved, new elections must be called for prime minister and parliament.