By
The Associated Press
JERUSALEM - Ariel Sharon, flush from an election victory seen as a mandate to veto more concessions to the Palestinians, pledged yesterday in a symbolic pilgrimage to Judaism's Western Wall that Jerusalem will remain in Israeli hands forever.
Sharon's promise, delivered the day after his decisive win over incumbent Prime Minister Ehud Barak, ran directly counter to a key Palestinian demand for control over Jerusalem's walled Old City and its holy shrines.
However, Sharon aides were quick to portray Israel's new leader as a pragmatist the Palestinians will be able to do business with. "Sharon wants to bring peace," said an adviser, Raanan Gissin. "I certainly believe the Arabs ... know they may not get everything they want, but it will be a real agreement."
Sharon aides suggested yesterday that - contrary to reports during the campaign - he would be willing to carry out territorial concessions in the West Bank and even dismantle some settlements.
Reuven Rivlin, a lawmaker from Sharon's Likud Party, told Israel TV this would involve "uniting" some islands of Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank, which could involve the dismantling of some isolated Jewish settlements.
Palestinian officials said they were ready to hear Sharon's offers. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat told Sharon in a congratulatory message that his hands "remain stretched out in peace," according to Sharon's advisers.
Arafat advisers said they were unaware of such a message, but that they expected the leaders to make direct contact soon.
Palestinians said they would not contemplate any Israeli proposals that fall short of Barak's most recent offer - a Palestinian state in virtually all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as parts of Jerusalem. Sharon has ruled out such concessions, and said he wouldn't begin talks until violence ends.
Arafat, meanwhile, came under pressure to ostracize Sharon, widely reviled among Palestinians as a ruthless oppressor. Arafat's Fatah movement, which has led a bloody insurgency against Israel, demanded that he not resume peace talks as long as Sharon is in power. "The uprising and resistance are our strategic choice," Fatah said in a leaflet distributed yesterday.
The 17 weeks of fighting, which began after Sharon's visit to a key Jerusalem shrine Sept. 28, have turned many Israelis against the far-reaching compromises Barak offered and contributed to his political downfall.
Ephraim Sneh, deputy defense minister under Barak, said the prime minister was simply ahead of his time. "Barak presented to the Israeli people the real price of peace, without illusions, and many Israelis cannot digest it yet," Sneh said.
Barak's most controversial concession was his readiness to give up Israeli claims to the disputed Jerusalem hilltop compound revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.
Yesterday, Sharon visited the Western Wall, a retaining wall of the Temple. Using the ancient honey-colored stones as a backdrop, the secular Sharon said Jerusalem would remain the "eternal and indivisible capital of Israel, with the Temple Mount at its center for all eternity."
His predecessors, including Barak, also celebrated their election victories at the Western Wall.
Sharon's visit took on added significance because of his controversial September tour of the adjacent hilltop. Nearly 400 people, including more than 300 Palestinians and dozens of Israelis, have been killed in clashes since then.
Palestinian Khader Sabaneh, sipping coffee in a narrow passageway of the Old City near the entrance to the shrine, said Sharon's Western Wall trip was another provocation, though of lesser proportions.
"He is just trying to create more obstacles and slow the peace dialogue," said Sabaneh, 49. "No one can trust Ariel Sharon if he says he is moving toward peace with the Palestinians."
Aware of the widespread trepidation over his victory, Sharon moved swiftly to reassure world leaders. Campaign adviser Eyal Arad said Sharon would soon send three envoys, including former Defense Minister Moshe Arens, to the United States with the message that Israel is serious about reaching a peace deal.
Sharon's immediate challenge is to put together a government before March 31 when he needs to get the 2001 budget passed in the divided parliament. A failure would spell the end of his rule and force new elections.
Sharon said yesterday it was "vital" that Barak's Labor Party join his government. Labor is split on that, and negotiations were complicated further by Barak's announcement that he is stepping down as party leader.
A temporary party chief would likely not have the moral authority to make the fateful decision to move Labor into the Sharon government despite deep ideological differences. Party primaries might not be held for three or four months.
Barak, meanwhile, said he received a call from President Bush praising him for his "political courage" in Mideast peacemaking.
