Ariel Sharon Wins Israeli Election

By the time Ariel Sharon officially won election as Prime Minister, observers had all but given up on Ehud Barak's chances of averting Tuesday's landslide and retaining the post he had held since 1999.

While the 60 percent turnout was decent compared to U.S. elections, it was low by Israeli standards. A significant portion of the Israeli population stayed home, unsatisfied with the choices. On one hand, the violence that has erupted in Israel in the past few months has cast doubts on Barak's ability to provide security. On the other hand, Sharon's promises to bring peace have been perceived as hollow words from a man who, as a former defense minister, was responsible for masterminding the 1982 invasion that led to Israel's 15-year occupation of South Lebanon.

In addition to Jewish citizens who chose not to vote, nearly all of the one million Arabs who are Israeli citizens boycotted Tuesday's election.

Senior Ben Ezinga said he was pessimistic about Sharon's election. "It looked like this was going to happen." he said. "I would not be surprised if this led to a big confrontation."

According to him, the United States would have a strong bias in the conflict. "We're obviously very biased," he said. "We are very much allied with occupied Palestine."

As far as the election is concerned, Ezinga said, "I think it will have a really polarizing effect on this campus and probably in this country."

College Sophomore Aimee Jones was one of a group of about 20 Oberlin students who visited Israel in January. Despite recent violence, she said things did not appear too out of the ordinary during her visit. People were going about their everyday life in most of the places they visited, although she said, "It was somewhat tense." She added that because of the recent violence and because students who went were part of an organized trip they were kept on a close watch.

At one marketplace her group visited, Jones said there were signs up everywhere promoting Sharon. However, at a rally the group attended Barak spoke to the group. "He said he would never sign a treaty that gives land on the Temple Mount to the Arabs," Jones siad. She herself was not sure whether or not she agreed. "This is a question that is impossible to answer," she said, "I'm not sure I'll ever have an answer."