Stay the Course, Mr. Barak

Israel’s Knesset dealt a blow to Prime Minister Ehud Barak Monday, rejecting his candidate, Shimon Peres, as president, but opponents in the legislature could not muster enough votes to topple Barak’s government. The vote, while showing the Knesset’s deep division over peace efforts, should not deter Barak from pursuing negotiations with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

The presidential balloting was a personal blow to Peres and a symbolic one to Barak. Peres, a three-time prime minister, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role as principal architect of the 1993 Oslo peace accords. But he has never clicked with Israeli voters, leading his Labor Party to four defeats at the polls. His stunning loss Monday to Moshe Katzav, a little-known member of the Likud Party, appears to end his distinguished political career. Peres is 76.

The presidency is largely a symbolic post in Israel. But in that increasingly fragmented country the office is changing from one of ceremonial representative to unifier of a society split along cultural, religious, political and economic lines. Katzav, a Sephardic Jew likely to appeal across political and religious divisions, rightly stressed this in his victory speech.

Barak may have been weakened by Peres’ defeat, recent defections from his coalition and the narrow escape in Monday’s attempt to oust his government. But he was elected on the promise of bringing peace to the Middle East, and despite the partisan bickering in the Knesset a majority of Israelis support his efforts.

With the Knesset adjourning today for a three-month recess, Barak will have breathing space to build on the Camp Davis effort to negotiate a comprehensive peace agreement with Arafat and to repair his tattered coalition. It will take not only courage, which he amply demonstrated at Camp David, but also a good deal of political acumen.