Sharon postpones the pain

Sharon postpones the pain

Analysis By Barbara Plett BBC Middle East correspondent

Ariel Sharon formed a right-wing coalition

As Ariel Sharon introduced his new government to parliament he once again repeated he was ready to make painful concessions for peace.

But the make-up of his coalition suggests the Israeli prime minister will postpone the pain as long as he can.

And its stability will probably depend more on the United States than internal opposition.

The government includes two groups that fiercely oppose Palestinian statehood and support Jewish settlements in the occupied territories - the National Religious Party (NRP) and the National Union.

A third partner, Shinui, is more moderate but mostly on a mission to loosen the ties between religion and state.

'Coalition cocktail'

The pro-peace Labour Party did not make the cut. It rejected Mr Sharon's attempts to woo it into a broad-based national unity government, saying he was not serious about a settlement with the Palestinians.

Commentators called what the prime minister came up with "an unexpected coalition cocktail... extremely right wing, extremely capitalistic, fairly secular and fairly Ashkenazi" - referring to Jews of European rather than Middle Eastern origin.

Amram Mitzna's Labour rejected calls to join the coalition

Mr Sharon told parliament the government's priority would be domestic issues and the battered economy in particular.

He also bowed to demands to curb the power of religion in the state, dumping his traditional ultra-orthodox allies after a wave of popular anger against religious laws nearly tripled the number of Shinui seats in parliament.

And he dumped Binyamin Netanyahu as his foreign minister, saddling him instead with the thankless task of fixing the economy as head of the finance ministry.

This was widely seen as a move to neutralise a bitter political rival, although commentators criticised the "rash" and "ruthless" way Mr Sharon filled key cabinet posts in last-minute power plays.

'Roadmap' reservations

But Mr Sharon may also have wanted to tighten his grip on foreign policy, since that is where he expects the most problems for his government.

Tommy Lapid's Shinui is opposed to religious control of civil issues

Recent comments by US President George Bush have confirmed that America plans to turn its attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after any war with Iraq.

It would do so on the basis of an internationally sponsored "roadmap" for peace meant to end in the creation of a Palestinian state and the freezing if not dismantling of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza.

The American approach will be crucial to the health of Mr Sharon's coalition, although he has many reservations about this plan quite apart from those of his new right-wing partners.

Testing Washington

The government could fall apart if Washington decides to get tough with Israel and press it to implement the roadmap as a pay-off to European and Arab allies that support its Iraq policy.

On the other hand a war could strengthen the already close identification between the American and Israeli administrations.

Mr Bush and company may demand Palestinian regime change and an end to all Palestinian violence - which fills the terrorism slot in the American view - before demanding any concessions from Israel.

Mr Sharon could always make another appeal to Labour if he loses the NRP and National Union.

But for now he seems to be playing for time, hoping Washington will see things his way after it is finished with Iraq.