Sharon Survives No-Confidence Vote; Bomber Attacks Shopping Center

While an explosion triggered by a suicide bomber ripped through a central Israeli shopping center killing two bystanders and injuring at least 15 others.

“There are two bodies of innocent victims, and the suicide bomber,” Reuters quoted police spokesman Gil Kleiman as saying.

According to media reports, the militant group Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the bombing. The group identified the bomber as Nabil Sawalha, a resident of the Balata refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus.

The Kfar Saba area, which is located just across the border from the West Bank and six miles from Tel Aviv, has been a frequent target of past violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In late April, a gunman opened fire on a restaurant in the town, killing one Israeli.

The bombing occurred as the Israeli parliament considered three no-confidence motions brought by left wing and opposition parties in the wake of the resignations of Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and other Labor Party cabinet members last week.

The Labor Party leaders resigned over a state budget dispute on the funding of Israeli settlements in areas where Palestinians want to create a new state, sparking the collapse of Israel’s unity coalition government and leading Sharon to create a much narrower minority coalition of conservative partners.

Upon learning of the apparent suicide bombing, cabinet minister Danny Naveh told the assembly, “This is a new reminder that we are still facing a war of criminal Palestinian terror.”

It was expected that Sharon would survive the no-confidence votes after the far-right National Union-Israel Beiteinu party decided to abstain while the group negotiates with the prime minister on joining the new minority coalition. Had the no-confidence votes succeeded, Sharon’s government could have been toppled, forcing early national elections in Israel.

Representatives from the National Union-Israel Beiteinu, presented Sharon with strict terms for their participation in the coalition, including the formal cancellation of Israel’s commitment to the 1990s interim peace accords with the Palestinian Liberation Organization as well as calling on the government to declare the Palestinian Authority a terrorist organization.

Sharon could still face a new election if he fails to add the seven legislators of National Union-Israel Beiteinu to the 55 seats he currently controls in the 120-member parliament.

Parliamentary leaders engaged in heated debate before approving Sharon’s appointment of Shaul Mofaz, a former army chief, as defense minister by a 69 to 39 vote. Mofaz resigned from the army only four months ago, a move that made some legislators uncomfortable citing the need for a separation between the military and politics. Mofaz is known for his hard-line position against a Palestinian state and for his support of the exile of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

As Sharon searches for more partners to shore up his coalition, he has called upon former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to assume the post of foreign minister, an assignment Netanyahu has said he would accept if Sharon promised to call early elections. In response, Sharon said through his Likud Party Monday that calling early elections could put Israel on shaky ground.

“Taking the nation to immediate elections would be irresponsible,” Sharon told legislators from his Likud Party. “I hope everyone acts responsibly and doesn’t try to make it difficult for a stable government to function.”

Sharon has said that national elections should proceed as scheduled in October 2003.

In another burst of violence Monday, two Palestinians were killed when their car exploded on a street in the West Bank city of Nablus. One of the two dead was a wanted militant from the radical group Hamas. Palestinian officials blamed Israel for the attack.