Sharon to face old foes

From CNN's Jerusalem Bureau Chief Mike Hanna

TEL AVIV, Israel -- In the end the decisive win the opinion polls had predicted for Ariel Sharon turned out to be an underestimate.

With a winning tally of 62.6 percent of the vote, against Ehud Barak's 37.2 percent, Sharon has earned a place in Israeli history -- gaining the biggest ever margin of victory in a prime ministerial election.

Sharon has insisted he would not abandon attempts to broker a peace with Palestinians but also he made it clear such a peace would be on his terms.

Where Barak had indicated a willingness to discuss some of the thorniest issues, Sharon has drawn his own lines in the sand -- including a pledge not to give up parts of Jerusalem.

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As a former army general Sharon as prime minister will come face-to-face with old foes, this time around the negotiating table.

So far he has said both sides will need to make concessions but has not said where he is willing to negotiate.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat says that despite the old enmity, he will stay the course towards peace.

But there is scant enthusiasm about having to deal with Sharon.

"We will give him all the benefit of the doubt if he comes with good ideas that will bring us closer to the peace process," said Palestinian Cabinet Minister Nabil Sha'ath.

"Why not? The world has seen many such situations before. That's not very probable but we'll assume it's possible."

For Barak, election defeat has also led him out of political life while his party is left to pick up the pieces.

Barak announced he was resigning as leader of the Labor Party and quitting his Knesset seat.

As Barak "leaves political matters behind me" Labor is faced with heady decisions -- should they join a Sharon-led unity government and who will be their next leader.

CNN correspondent Ben Wedeman contributed to this report.

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February 6, 2001
Israelis vote amid threats
February 6, 2001
Barak tries to coax Israeli Arabs to polls as vote nears
February 4, 2001
Barak: 'Fate of Israel' at stake in election
February 1, 2001
Barak refuses to stand aside
January 31, 2001
Mideast negotiators want to continue talks after Israeli elections
January 27, 2001

Israeli Prime Minister's Office
Knesset, the Israeli Parliament
Likud
Aavoda (Labour) Party
Palestinian National Authority
PLO National Affairs Department
Israel Defence Forces
Palestine Red Crescent Society

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