Israelis have elected a new prime minister. Likud Party leader Ariel Sharon has trounced Prime Minister Ehud Barak in a historic vote. The results cap a stunning comeback for Mr. Sharon, who was written out of Israeli politics after the 1982 invasion of Lebanon which he masterminded. The results also mark an equally remarkable reversal in the prospects for the region. Few figures are as incendiary -- as hated -- as Mr. Sharon among the Arabs and Palestinians. A peace agreement is not impossible, but the dynamics and the personalities have changed.
Mr. Sharon won by a landslide. He took 62.6 percent of the vote, nearly twice Mr. Barak's 37.3 percent. The victory was not unvarnished, however. Turnout was 62 percent, a record low, and a sharp fall from that of the May 1999 election that brought Mr. Barak to power. Israeli Arabs, who make up 12 percent of the population and had supported Mr. Barak in the past, boycotted the vote in anger over the shooting of 13 Arabs by Israeli security forces in October.
For the majority of voters, the key factor was fear. While Israelis want a peace agreement, they lost faith in Mr. Barak's ability to deliver it. Months of fighting -- triggered by Mr. Sharon's September visit to a holy site in Jerusalem -- have claimed almost 400 lives. The overwhelming majority of victims have been Palestinians, but Israelis have become reacquainted with an insecurity they thought they had vanquished. This election focused on that fear.