After nearly a month of negotiations, Israel's new prime minister, Mr. Ariel Sharon, has cobbled together his "unity Cabinet." It may represent a broad spectrum of political opinion, but it is unlikely to be united for long. Once Mr. Sharon gets down to resuming peace talks with the Palestinians -- his most pressing assignment -- he will be buffeted by the same forces that undermined his predecessor and governments before him.
Mr. Sharon defeated Prime Minister Ehud Barak in a landslide victory after promising an end to the five-month uprising that has convulsed the Middle East. The new prime minister has offered no radical solutions to achieve the peace that has eluded the men who held the premier's office in the past. Everything in his career suggests he will be a hardliner, retreating to the position of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a Likud Party member like Mr. Sharon, who is widely believed to have derailed the Oslo peace process when he was in office.
Initial signs are not promising. Mr. Sharon has demanded that the Palestinians halt the violence before he will resume negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. That will be difficult, if only because it is unclear whether that government can leash the anger that has overtaken the Palestinian people. To his credit, Mr. Sharon has distanced himself from the maximalists: He said that he has no intention of reoccupying lands already handed over to the Palestinians.