Sharon sweeps to power

Ariel Sharon has called for a national unity government

The leader of the right-wing Likud party, Ariel Sharon, has won a landslide victory to become the new prime minister of Israel.

Today the state of Israel has taken a new road, the road of peace, security and unity

Ariel Sharon

He called for a government of national unity to bring peace to the Middle East.

The outgoing prime minister, Ehud Barak, said he was resigning as Labour leader and leaving parliament.

Addressing jubilant supporters in Tel Aviv, Mr Sharon ruled out territorial concessions to the Palestinians over Jerusalem and urged them to "cast off the path of violence and return to the path of dialogue".

He said: "Today the state of Israel has taken a new road, the road of peace, security and unity."

Ehud Barak conceded defeat

Mr Barak ruled out his party's participation in a national unity government without agreement on a joint plan of action.

"Friends, we have lost a battle, but we will win the war," he told supporters. "Our path is the one and only path, the path that will lead Israel to peace and security."

Minutes after voting ended on Tuesday evening, exit polls gave Mr Sharon a lead of 19%. Partial results broadcast later on Israeli television suggested an even greater lead for the Likud leader.

Turnout, according to electoral officials, was about 60% - the lowest in Israeli history.

'Day of rage'

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was conciliatory in his response to Mr Sharon's victory.

"We respect the decision of the Israeli people," Mr Arafat said. "We hope the peace process will continue."

But his comments came after Palestinians had held what they called a "day of rage" to coincide with the voting and Mr Sharon's expected victory.

Demonstrators chanting ''Sharon is a butcher'' clashed with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank towns of Ramallah and Hebron.

Challenges ahead

Mr Sharon will inherit the same fractured and fractious parliament which gave Mr Barak so much trouble.

Some Israeli commentators say there may have to be new parliamentary elections within six months.

In that event, his rival Binyamin Netanyahu could challenge him for leadership of the Likud Party and supplant him as prime minister.

The new Israeli prime minister may also find himself constrained by the realities on the ground.

If he tries, as his record suggests he may, to use the iron fist to curb Palestinian anger, analysts say he will find there are no purely military solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian problem.