Sharon wins by record margin despite 'unelectable' reputation
Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Thursday, February 8, 2001
TEL AVIV — Likud challenger Ariel Sharon was swept into the post of
Israel's premiership by the largest margin in the nation's history despite being billed as 'unelectable' only weeks before the election.
Sharon beat incumbent Ehud Barak by 25 percentage points. Sharon won
62.5 percent of the vote to Barak's 37.5 in the lowest turnout in
an Israeli election, about 60 percent.
"The severance from the reality brought Barak to this catastrophe,"
Shlomo Avineri, a former diplomat and leading Israeli strategist, said. "I
think when Ehud Barak writes his memoirs, he will ask himself where did I go
wrong. Until several weeks ago, Sharon was regarded as unelectable."
Barak announced his resignation from political life, saying his drive
for peace was premature. His resignation — urged by many in the Labor
leadership — opened the way for a succession struggle.
The Likud chairman, who ran on a peace platform, assured the
international community that he will seek to reach a settlement with the
Palestinians. Sharon received telephone calls from U.S. President George
Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell.
"The government that I lead will work to restore security to the
citizens of Israel and achieve true peace and stability in the region,"
Sharon said in his victory speech. "I call on our Palestinians neighbors to
abandon the way of violence and return to the path of dialogue and
resolution of our problems through peace."
Arab reaction was largely negative to Sharon's election. Syria called
Sharon's election a declaration of war. Egypt's state-owned Al Akhbar daily
called Sharon the "butcher of Sabra and Shatilla," referring to the 1982
massacre of Palestinians in Beirut by Christian fighters.
Arab League foreign ministers plan to discuss the Israeli election in a
meeting in Amman on Saturday.
Arab voters heeded a call by the Islamic leadership and stayed away from the polls. Only 18 percent of
eligible Arab voters arrived to the polls, and one-third of them inserted an
empty ballot.
The Palestinian leadership plans to meet on Wednesday night to discuss
Sharon's election. PA Chairman Yasser Arafat said he would work with any
elected Israeli leader, but his aides were less charitable.
Fatah leaders loyal to Arafat that the mini-war against Israel would
continue. "Sharon is the last bullet in the Israeli ammunition clip," Fatah
leader Marwan Barghouti said.
Thursday, February 8, 2001
|