Jerusalem — Ariel Sharon was sworn in as Israel's prime minister Wednesday and said his broad-based coalition was ready to make peace with the Palestinians if they "abandon the way of violence, terrorism and incitement."
Sharon, the nation's fifth prime minister in six years, heads a large and unwieldy government that inherits the Palestinian uprising, a broken-down peace process and an anxiety-ridden Israel.
In a speech to the Knesset, Sharon said his coalition would be ready for "painful compromises" toward peace with the Palestinians, but not "under the pressure of violence and terror."
Later, parliament approved Sharon's "national unity government" by a vote of 72 to 21. Immediately afterward, Sharon rose to the podium and declared his allegiance, officially taking office to an unusual round of applause from the floor.
In his speech before the vote, Sharon promised his government would work with the Palestinians. "If the Palestinians choose the path of peace ... they will find me and my government a sincere and true partner," he said.
Sharon noted that he has promised to build no more settlements on disputed lands a departure from his past as a hard-line patron of the settler movement. But he did not outline how he would fulfill campaign promises to restore stability to a land rattled by five months of violence.
"The lip service for peace and the generalities don't make peace. Peacemaking requires details," said Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian negotiator. "To make peace means a decision to end the (Israeli military) occupation" in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Sharon also said Israel must seek peace deals with Syria and Lebanon, but offered no details on how he would pursue them.
In recent weeks, Sharon's low-key pronouncements have focused on dealing with the immediate problems of halting the fighting with the Palestinians and establishing a government sturdy enough to withstand the constant buffeting of Israel's unruly politics.
A former general who won glory and notoriety for repeated confrontations with Israel's Arab neighbors, Sharon rejects the grand ambitions of his predecessor, Ehud Barak, whose government crumbled as he failed to strike a comprehensive peace deal with the Palestinians.
Sharon, 73, has consistently opposed major Israeli concessions to the Palestinians and says the most he would countenance is a long-term interim agreement. For decades he has advocated tough measures.
A final peace deal is years, perhaps even a generation away, he has often said.
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