Wednesday, May 19, 1999 Published at 05:36 GMT 06:36 UK
World: Middle East
Arafat and Barak make peace pledge
Ehud Barak: Wants peace with Palestinians and unity in Israel
Israel's new Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have pledged to work together to pursue peace.
A Palestinian spokesman said Mr Arafat had also pressed for talks on the final status of the Palestinian territories.
Following his landslide general election win on Tuesday, Mr Barak promised peace with the Palestinians and unity among Israelis.
His clear margin of victory has been welcomed worldwide as a mandate for change and has increased hopes for movement in the Middle East peace process.
United States President Bill Clinton offered his "warmest congratulations" to Mr Barak by telephone, saying he should work "energetically for a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace that strengthens Israel's security."
However, Arab pleasure at Mr Netanyahu's defeat was strongly tempered by scepticism and warnings that Mr Barak's policies remain largely unknown.
In his victory speech at his party's HQ, Mr Barak promised to fulfil his campaign pledge to pull out of the occupied southern Lebanon region "within a year".
Although most attention focused on the prime ministerial race, Israelis also voted for a new parliament, whose composition will have a vast influence over Mr Barak's ability to govern.
Shape of the Knesset
In the Knesset elections, Mr Barak's Labour Party and its allies - the One Israel coalition - won only 27 of 120 seats.
It has been suggested that a deal could also be forged with the ultra-Orthodox Sephardic Jewish movement, Shas, which made significant gains to take its tally of seats from 10 to 17.
By comparison, Likud's showing plummeted from 32 to just 19 seats.
The leader of Shas, Aryeh Deri, has announced that he is stepping down to allow his party to negotiate a coalition with Labour, despite the fact that Shas endorsed Mr Netanyahu for prime minister.
Mr Deri's four year sentence has been deferred, awaiting a Supreme Court appeal.
Following his resounding defeat, Mr Netanyahu announced his intention to resign from the leadership of the Likud party. He said he wanted to spend more time with his family.
His foreign minister, Ariel Sharon, takes over in a temporary capacity.
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