Car Bombing, Political Wrangling Roil Israel

Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon confronted challenges on political and security fronts Thursday, scarcely 48 hours after his crushing electoral victory.

Two blasts from an explosives-rigged car in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in central Jerusalem narrowly missed dozens of yeshiva students when the devices exploded on a narrow, cramped street in the late afternoon. The explosions slightly injured one person, but huge crowds of religious Jews gathered to chant “Death to Arabs!”

Sharon, who promises an uncompromising line against Palestinians, said the bombing is further proof that the Palestinians aren’t doing enough to stop terrorism. He said he won’t negotiate with them until they do.

Sharon had other problems Thursday as he turned in earnest to the task of forming a government: He heard from a parade of politicians from his right-wing Likud Party, each reportedly seeking a seat in his Cabinet.

The hawkish former general reiterated his desire to form a national unity government with the left-of-center Labor Party of Prime Minister Ehud Barak, whom he had just humiliated in an unprecedented landslide.

But a rudderless Labor continued to implode, with its top members caught in an orgy of finger-pointing and deep division over who should lead it after Barak’s resignation as party chief and whether to hook up with Sharon in a coalition government.

A 65-year-old woman was taken to a hospital and nine other people were treated for shock as a result of Thursday’s attack, a pair of blasts less than a minute apart that sent pieces of the car flying. One chunk landed in telephone lines above, where it hung like an ornament. About 50 students were inside a nearby yeshiva, preparing to celebrate a Jewish holiday known as Tu Bishvat that honors nature.

“The Arabs are trying to put fear in us,” said 21-year-old Joseph Brandeis, a student originally from England. “Especially with a new prime minister. They want to say, ‘You can have Barak or you can have Sharon--it doesn’t matter, we’ll get you.’ ”

The car was parked in front of a small grocery store and apparently wasn’t occupied when the explosives detonated. Police later said they had arrested a suspect.

Jerusalem Police Chief Miki Levi said it was a “huge miracle” that no one was killed, because a large amount of explosives had been used.

In comments to journalists after the bombing and in a letter to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat earlier in the day, Sharon reiterated that he won’t open talks with the Palestinians until there is an “absolute cessation of terrorist acts.”

Sharon and his advisors have made it clear that they will not pick up peace talks where Barak and the Palestinians left off. The far-reaching concessions offered by Barak, including most of the West Bank and a portion of Jerusalem, are not up for discussion.

Arafat rejected Barak’s proposals at the failed Camp David summit last summer but entered new and, by most accounts, promising negotiations the week before Israel’s election.

Sharon has indicated that he is interested in pursuing a limited, phased interim agreement with the Palestinians instead of the comprehensive and definitive deal that Barak had unsuccessfully sought.

Barak, who announced his resignation from the Labor Party leadership and parliament after the drubbing he received in Tuesday’s election, surprised Israelis on Thursday by appearing at a Labor meeting to say he would take over negotiations to join Sharon’s government.

Labor has been embroiled in mutual recriminations over who was to blame for Barak’s defeat. One top official after another has appeared on state radio or television to complain, and Labor’s leadership conference Thursday night erupted in nasty shouting matches.

Avraham Shohat, the pro-Barak finance minister, complained that some party officials “secretly in their hearts did not shed a tear when Barak lost.”

Uzi Baram, a veteran party activist who has been on the outs with Barak for years, blamed the prime minister’s inner circle for the failed campaign. “They continued to back a losing candidate when it was absolutely clear that the people did not want him,” Baram said.

And the party is bitterly divided over whether to be a part of Sharon’s coalition. Labor’s elder statesman, Shimon Peres, is said to favor joining Sharon, especially if it means receiving an important ministerial portfolio; committed peace-seekers such as Justice Minister Yossi Beilin are adamantly opposed.

“We must not be the ones to give Sharon his security net for a run in 2003,” Beilin said in a news conference Thursday. “He doesn’t deserve it--unless he turns into a grandmother instead of a wolf.”

Sharon’s government will have a hard time surviving and passing legislation through the badly fragmented parliament unless it forms a broad coalition, Likud politicians acknowledge. But some members of his party told Sharon on Thursday that they expect to be named to his Cabinet, leaving few spoils with which Sharon can entice Labor and other parties.