New Prime Minister Vows Support For Mideast Peace But Netanyahu’s Plans For Palestinian Accord Unclear

Inheriting the mantle of leadership from Prime Minister Shimon Peres in a nation deeply divided over making peace with the Arabs, right-wing Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu was declared the winner of Israel’s national elections Friday.

President Clinton, French President Jacques Chirac and Peres telephoned Netanyahu to congratulate him as soon as the results were final. The prime minister-elect, meanwhile, called Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Hussein to declare his support for Middle East peace.

Clinton, who had all but campaigned for Peres, invited Netanyahu to visit the White House soon.

Netanyahu told Mubarak that the peace between Egypt and Israel, forged by former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, is a foundation for peace in the entire Middle East, Israel Radio reported.

Hussein congratulated Netanyahu and said he is confident that bilateral work will continue, the radio said. He told the king that he sees in him “a good friend and not only a good neighbor.”

The 46-year-old Netanyahu’s victory represents the passage of power from the fathers of the Jewish state to a new generation born after the 1948 War of Independence.

It also signals the end of a lifelong career in public office for the 73-year-old Peres, who shared a Nobel Peace Prize for the 1993 Israeli-Palestinian interim peace agreement, negotiated in Oslo, Norway, that Netanyahu branded a failure during the campaign.

After two days of counting paper ballots, the Central Election Committee announced final results that gave Netanyahu 50.4 percent of the vote to 49.5 percent for Peres - a razor-thin margin of fewer than 29,500 ballots.

Neither Netanyahu nor Peres made any formal statements Friday.

Netanyahu said he will make his victory speech in Jerusalem on Sunday.

Formal negotiations to form a government coalition with small moderate and religious parties also were scheduled to begin after the Sabbath.

Peres told Labor Party activists waiting outside his house Friday that in spite of his defeat, he will continue to work for peace.

Clinton telephoned Peres to convey his “deep personal regard and appreciation” for his leadership in the peace process, White House spokesman David Johnson said.

Netanyahu’s plans for the 3-year-old peace negotiations with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were unclear.

He had said he planned to strengthen Jewish settlements in the Palestinian-dominated West Bank, allow Israeli troops to re-enter cities under Palestinian rule for security purposes and prevent the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West Bank city of Hebron - all violations of the peace agreements.

Likud Party elder Ariel Sharon insisted Friday that the withdrawal from Hebron will never take place.

“The Likud’s position on Hebron is very clear. Israel will continue to be responsible for security all over Hebron,” Sharon said on Israel Radio.

Asked if his remarks were meant to tell Clinton and Arafat that the chapter of the interim accord on Hebron was null, he said: “Yes. Our government can’t accept the Oslo (peace) agreement exactly as it is.”

Peres delayed the withdrawal from Hebron that was scheduled for March after a wave of suicide bombings in Israel by the extremist group Hamas that killed 60 people.