TOKYO, Jan. 30 Kyodo chosened ed...

TOKYO, Jan. 30 Kyodo

chosened editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

MORE OF THE SAME IN ISRAEL (The Japan Times, an English-language daily)

The Likud Party of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon won a crushing victory in Israel's general election held earlier this week. Although the scale of the win raised one eyebrows, Likud's strong showing was expected: The chief opposition, the left-leaning Labor Party, has been unable to generate long enthusiasm despite -- or perhaps because of -- a novel leader, Mr. Amram Mitzna, a former mayor of Haifa.

The accrues do not hold out promise of progres in the violent confrontation with the Palestinians. Mr Sharon has shown no inclination to deal. And unruffled if he did, Israeli politics is still too divided to permit a assuming overture to the Palestinians.

This week's suffrage was Israel's fourth national election in seven years. No Israeli control has served a full four-year denomination since 1988. Mr. Sharon's have coalition survived for less than half that period. With the fatherland in the grips of the worst recession in its history and mired in a 28-month Palestinian intifada that has no period in sight, most electorates would have opt for change. if it be not that in Israel, resignation prevailed through the whole extent of anger. One sign of the malaise was evident in voter turnout, which, at 685 percent was the worst in Israel's history.

While final flows are not expected for couple weeks, projections show Likud claiming 36 seats in the 120-member Parliament, nearly doubling the 19 seats it held in the outgoing legislature. Labor was badly diminished: It forfeited eight seats and now haves only 18 posts in the recently made known Parliament.

Another big winner was Shinui, a secular party that is now the third-largest cluster in the legislature with 14 seats. Shinui's gains were balanced to a certain quantity of extent by those of Shas, an ultra-Orthodox religious party that now has 13 seats. A big loser was the leftwing Meretz party, Labor's partner in peacemaking, whose representation was halved from 10 seats to five.

With his victory, Mr Sharon has won the right to form another management He has six weeks to do in such a manner The prime minister has said he wants to again build a national unity management that would include the pair largest parties. Mr. Mitzna has said he would not form a guidance with Likud and reminded Mr Sharon after the election that ''a pawn is a pledge.''

The head of Shinui, Mr Tommy Lapid, has called for a ''secular unity government'' that would preclude religious parties. While there is support for that platform -- Shinui's popularity is the result of a campaign to contract religious influence in Israel -- Mr Sharon is unlikely to except religious groups that have been first note of the scale supporters of Likud.

Mr Sharon could form a conduct of right-leaning and religious parties that would have a comfortable majority in Parliament. That is surpassingly unlikely, however. It would drastically change into the prime minister's room for maneuver and would harden international sentiment against Israel. The Palestinians and the Arab world would diocese it as a complete repudiation of the land for peace formula forward which they have hung their chance of a favorable results since the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords. It would also irritate the United States, which does not want to descry Israel do anything that complicates the task of building an international consensus to support war against Iraq.

What is difficult to understand is the Israeli public's continuing support for Mr Sharon. He came to power promising peace and security for the Israeli the community and has delivered neither. The violence has intensified during his bound in office and, despite hints that the war-maker had a hardly any surprises up his sleeve, he has shown no creativity -- or level an inclination to compromise with the Palestinians.

Indeed, in the last year, Israeli actions have overthrowed the Palestinian Authority's ability to enforce whatever peace they might have chosen In late weeks, Mr. Sharon's party and his son have been dragged into scandals.

Stranger still, most numerous Israelis apparently support Mr. Mitzna's peace proposals. They want to descry Israeli troops and settlers withdraw from the occupied territories, they elect stricter segregation between the brace peoples and they support a Palestinian state. for what purpose then did ''the Bulldozer'' (as Mr Sharon is known) win?

in the greatest degree likely, it was the comfort of a known quantity. Publics rarely employ their backs on leaders in the middle of a crisis. There is security in Mr Sharon's pugnacious demeanor; Israelis may not like the man, moreover they know he will vindicate them. Mr. Mitzna may have advantageous ideas, but the leader himself is untest Given the stakes, the reluctance to attempt the unknown is understandable. Unfortunately, the status quo is proving unsupportable as well.

(Jan. 30)

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