First test for Sharon

Ariel Sharon: Came to power promising to end violence

By Middle East analyst Roger Hardy

The escalation of violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories is putting pressure on the new Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, to respond.

Police with the body of the suspected suicide bomber after Wednesday's attack

There is an angry mood in Israel, with calls for harsh retaliation against the Palestinians coming from right-wingers and settlers.

But so far the Israeli leader, who came to power promising to end the violence that has raged since last September, has shown relative restraint.

He has done little more than condemn the latest killings and put the blame on the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

US nervous

Several factors are behind Mr Sharon's uncharacteristic restraint - one being the Arab summit in Jordan.

Middle East violence continues on Wednesday

Tough action by Israel would be a propaganda gift to Mr Arafat, who is using the summit to win support for the intifada.

A second factor is that, on Friday, Israeli Arabs will be marking Land Day, an annual event commemorating the expropriation of their land.

Mr Sharon does not want to further enflame opinion among Israel's Arab citizens.

And then there is the Bush administration in the US which is inclined to give the new Israeli prime minister a chance to prove himself, but also nervous about the current anti-American mood in the Arab world.

In a few days' time, President George W Bush will play host to two Arab allies - Egypt's President Mubarak and King Abdullah of Jordan.

None of this means there will be no Israeli response to the violence, but Mr Sharon does not have as much room for manoeuvre as he might like.