Choice for Barak: power or peace

JERUSALEM - Israeli right-wing leader Ariel Sharon vowed yesterday to challenge Prime Minister Ehud Barak in a general election to prevent what he called further concessions to Palestinians in peace negotiations.

But the opposition hawk also held out the prospect of more talks with Barak on shelving election plans and forming a national unity government, an arrangement which analysts say would torpedo efforts to revive peace moves.

Peace prospects remained dismal. Gunfights flared in the West Bank in the third month of a Palestinian uprising, after Barak's bombshell decision on Wednesday to call for an early election.

Military sources said Israeli troops had shot dead four Palestinians trying to enter Israel from the Gaza Strip.

The Army, which is checking the report, said that an Israeli motorist had also been shot and seriously wounded south of Nablus in the West Bank.

Sharon said Barak would pay any price for a peace agreement to win re-election, and had to be replaced.

He said the Prime Minister, a fellow former Army general, was too inexperienced politically and too inclined to act on his own to be entrusted with the momentous task of sealing an agreement with the Palestinians.

Barak's announcement in effect gambles his job on peace progress and curbing the uprising in which at least 283 people have been killed. Most were Palestinians.

Unlike Barak, Sharon sees no need to push for a final agreement exchanging land for peace, saying an interim pact on what he calls non-belligerence is the best Israel can hope for in the next few years.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, who was in Tunisia for talks on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, made no public comment on Barak's decision. Political analysts said they did not expect him to make concessions to help the Israeli leader.

Palestinians would be unlikely to welcome Sharon into government. The present violence erupted after he made what Palestinians called a provocative visit in September to a Jerusalem shrine that is holy to both Jews and Muslims.

Ahead of an election Sharon is likely to face a Likud party leadership challenge from former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the frontrunner in opinion polls which put both right-wingers ahead of Barak.

Arab reaction to Barak's move was mixed.

Rafik Khoury, editor-in-chief of Beirut's Al-Anwar daily, said the early election proved that the hardliners in Israel were becoming a majority, which spelled disaster for peace moves.

"Barak's Government fell, even though he did not make peace with the Palestinians, which shows how much of a priority peace is to Israel."

Hussein Amin, a former Egyptian ambassador, took issue with those who put all Israeli politicians in the same bag.

He said the Labour Party was the most capable of achieving peace, and Barak had a golden chance to try harder for an agreement.

Barak had no immediate comment on Sharon's remarks. He has said previous unity attempts in recent weeks failed over Sharon's insistence on a veto over any peace moves.

Agreement on a national unity government would allow the Prime Minister, who lost his Assembly majority this year, to dodge an early ballot.

- REUTERS

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