January 29, 2003

Sharon leads Likud to landslide

By Gil Hoffman

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon led his Likud Party to a stunning victory over Labor and Shinui in Tuesday's election.

Actual results are expected to be published by this morning, but the results will become official only next week after soldiers' and Foreign Service votes are counted.

The election was marked by the lowest turnout in Israeli history for a Knesset election. Only 68.5 percent of the electorate voted for the 16th Knesset, 10% lower than in 1999.

A count of more than 90 percent of votes by early Wednesday morning showed the Likud winning 37 seats, nearly double what it has in the outgoing Knesset, Labor 19, down from 26, and Shinui, 15, more than twice its current 6 seats.

"I state here that after the president places the task of assembling the new government in my hands, I will appeal to all of the Zionist parties to join the widest possible national-unity government," Sharon told supporters at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds.

"This is the will of the people. The basis for forming the new unity government will be the basic principles of the outgoing unity government that the majority of the parties represented in the new Knesset previously agreed to, and the diplomatic plan I presented a plan which can bring Israel victory over terror and open a door to real peace."

Labor Party chairman Amram Mitzna called Sharon and congratulated him on the Likud's victory. Sharon thanked him and the two decided to meet in the near future. Former Labor chairman Shimon Peres said Labor cannot rule out joining a national-unity government, but Mitzna spoke unequivocally against it in his concession speech.

"Labor will tell Sharon that there is an alternative and a different path," Mitzna told supporters at party headquarters, over chants of "Anything but the Likud."

"I don't intend to concede our path for seats in the government. We are not embarrassed to sit in the opposition and I guarantee our stay there will be short.

We won't stop fighting until the public gives us its trust and I guarantee it will be soon. Politics is a marathon and we are still in the first kilometers."

Top Labor officials said they would unite behind Mitzna, but Labor secretary Ophir Pines-Paz said that according to party regulations, Labor must have another leadership race by next year. Sharon received congratulatory calls from Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, and world leaders. Sources close to Sharon said talks with the Palestinians would begin soon after the election with moderate counterparts on the Palestinian side.

The prime minister's advisers, who watched the exit polls on television with him, said Sharon expressed "reserved happiness" at the results.

"I hope Mitzna realizes that the campaign is over and that there's a country to run," said the Likud's Election Day campaign chief, Industry and Trade Minister Dan Naveh.

Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert said Sharon intends to form a "creative coalition and not a rightist government. He called upon Shinui leader Yosef (Tommy) Lapid to act as a unifying force and concede on his promise to only join a national-unity government without religious parties.

The results indicated that Sharon has a variety of choices for possible coalitions, either a secular unity government or a rightist-religious cabinet.

Lapid called Sharon to congratulate him and agreed to meet with him soon. Lapid promised a "revolution in Israeli society" and vowed that there will be a secular unity government. He called upon Labor to withdraw its promise to not join a national-unity government, saying Mitzna cannot abandon the government to the extreme right.

"The public wants a different Israel and we will give it to them," Lapid said. "We cannot waste this historic opportunity that the public gave us. The Labor Party is not as important as the state."

Meretz leader Yossi Sarid, whose party was given given seven mandates, announced that he intends to quit and "take a time-out from politics" if the results prove to be correct. New Meretz member Yossi Beilin, who did not win a seat in the Knesset, said he would not challenge Sarid.

Shas also fell dramatically from 17 seats to 11. Supporters of former Shas leader Aryeh Deri called upon Shas chairman Eli Yishai to follow Sarid's lead and quit.

"Deri is the one who saved Shas from a final and colossal defeat," a Deri supporter said. "But Yishai, as in the past, will continue to behave ungratefully, increase the strength of Shinui, and bring shame to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and the Sephardic public."

Tuesday's election was also relatively quiet. According to the police, there were only 40 incidents registered up to 8 p.m., only half of which were classified as serious. Some of these involved fistfights and mob gatherings.

Some 27,000 policemen, border policemen, soldiers, and private guards were on duty to protect the 7,736 polling stations scattered throughout the country. Police received dozens of warnings of possible terrorist attacks, but the voting process went smoothly throughout the day.

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