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Israeli PM-designate Ehud Olmert, right, and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz attend an inaugural session of the new parliament in Jerusalem Monday. (AP)
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| By Associated Press April 18, 2006 |
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Israel's new parliament was sworn in Monday during a solemn ceremony overshadowed by a Palestinian suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.
The bombing, which killed nine civilians, marred a normally festive occasion. Israeli leaders who addressed the session expressed sorrow for the bloodshed and urged the Palestinians' new Hamas-led government to halt the violence.
"I call on the Palestinians not to show weakness of spirit in the struggle for peace. We want to believe that the political path of the Hamas government is not the path of the Palestinians," said Israel's ceremonial president, Moshe Katsav.
Veteran lawmaker Shimon Peres, a Nobel peace laureate who chaired Monday's session, called the swearing-in ceremony a testament to the strength of the country's democracy.
The new parliament, or Knesset, chosen in March 28 elections, will have to wait for the formation of a coalition government before it begins work on legislative business, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's ambitious plan to withdraw from large chunks of the West Bank.
Olmert's Kadima party is the largest faction in the new parliament, with 29 out of 120 seats, but needs partners to establish a majority coalition. It currently is in negotiations with several parties, including the left-center Labor and the hawkish Israel Beiteinu. Negotiations are expected to continue several weeks.
Olmert is seeking to build a broad coalition that will support his plan to withdraw from much of Judea and Samaria, uprooting dozens of Jewish settlements.
Olmert said he hopes to carry out the withdrawal as part of a deal with the Palestinians, but will move unilaterally if there is no partner on the other side. Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, has refused to renounce violence, making unilateral Israeli action likely.
Speaking at parliament shortly before Monday's opening session, Olmert said Israel would respond "as necessary" to the bombing. "We shall, of course continue to use all means at our disposal to prevent every other attempt," he said.
The new parliament includes a diverse mix of retired security officials, academics, Israeli Arabs, immigrants from the former Soviet Union and representatives of Orthodox Jewish parties.
The group includes 12 retired generals or security chiefs, including a former military chief of staff and former heads of the Mossad spy agency and Shin Bet security service.
One-third of the members of the 17th Knesset are first-time lawmakers. The new-look parliament will also be older than its predecessor, with eight members over the age of 70 - largely due to the surprising success of the pensioners party, which garnered seven seats in the elections.
The new Knesset will highlight more military generals, professors, Arabs and new immigrant lawmakers than its predecessor, but will include fewer women and settlers.
It also marked a changing of the guard. Many veteran lawmakers are retiring from politics, including former Foreign Minister David Levy, former Justice Minister Joseph Lapid and former Education Minister Yossi Sarid.
Sarid, a longtime leader of the Dovish Meretz party, and a Knesset member since 1974, said the new parliament had nowhere to go but up after a 16th Knesset that was marred by political scandals.
"The first job of the new Knesset is to raise anew the ray of Israeli democracy," he said.
Peres, 82, has been a member of Knesset since 1959. He will chair the parliamentary sessions until a permanent chairman is selected.
The plenum included an empty chair marking the vacant seat of Ariel Sharon, the ex-prime minister and founder of Kadima who has been comatose since suffering a massive stroke on Jan. 4.
AP contributed to this report.
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