World watches drama unfold in Israel

World watches drama unfold in Israel

NICOSIA (AFP): All eyes were on Israel yesterday as rightwing
challenger Benjamin Netanyahu looked set to snatch victory from
veteran peacemaker Shimon Peres threatening to derail the fragile
Middle East peace process.

"The election of Netanyahu is a declaration of war against
Palestinians and the Arabs," thundered a Hamas leader in Gaza,
Ghazi Hamad.

"The Israelis don't want peace. The results of the polls are a
shock for the whole world, including the Palestinians," he told
AFP.

But in a first reaction from the United States, the main
sponsor of the peace process President Bill Clinton said U.S.
policy in the region would remain unchanged.

"Whatever the result, the United States will continue its
policy of support for the people of Israel, for the democratic
process there and for the process of peace," Clinton said.

The polls see-sawed after they closed late on Wednesday,
initially giving Peres a slim lead but then tilting back to give
Netanyahu a lead of 50.3 with 140,000 votes left to count.

Peres, 72, is one of the main architects of the peace accords
with the Palestinians and has pledged to follow the course
charted by his slain predecessor Yitzhak Rabin to achieve peace
with other Arab neighbors.

Netanyahu, 46, on the other hand said he would pursue the
peace process but would only abide by what has been agreed so
far, make no further territorial concessions and step up the
Jewish settlement of the Palestinian territories.

The Arab League in Cairo said "Arabs have something to worry
about."

"We cannot ignore Netanyahu's statements during his election
campaign which are hostile to the Arabs and go against the
fundamentals of the peace process," said a senior official Muffaq
al-Allaf.

But Palestinian leaders, who have implicitly backed Peres
throughout the campaign, struggled to put a brave face on the
shock polls.

Finance Minister Zohdi Nashashibi said the peace process
sponsored by Russia and the United States is "stronger than any
government. It's an international process and it will continue
whether somebody likes it or not."

He said the Palestinians had faith that world opinion would
press for an immediate start to negotiations on the final status
of the territories, which they hope will lead to an independent
state.

Egypt too sought to draw comfort from history saying the pace
of peace could be slowed but not halted.

"If Netanyahu wins, it will take some time to resume the peace
process, but it will surely go on," the Al-Ahram daily said.

Syria, which has so far failed to make peace with Israel
despite years of on-off negotiations, said it was not interested
in who won.

"The only acceptable aim of the Israeli elections is to draw
up a new Israeli position fitting in with the UN Security Council
resolutions," Damascus radio said.

However, a disgusted Leah Rabin, wife of the assassinated
premier, said she felt like "packing my bags and as quickly as
possible fly away from here."

Outside the region, the French foreign ministry acknowledged
it was watching the outcome attentively, but Norway which hosted
secret negotiations leading to 1993 Oslo accords voiced
confidence in the future of peace.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Bjeorn Tore Godal told the NTB news
agency that Netanyahu had repeatedly said he would pursue the
peace process.