Voice of America, Nov. 28, 2002

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has maintained control of the ruling Likud Party as Israel was hit by election-day violence.

Mr. Sharon's challenger, Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, conceded defeat after loosing by at least 20-percent. Analysts say Mr. Sharon will now almost certainly win another term as prime minister when he faces the Labor Party candidate Amram Mitzna on January 28th.

Officials say 40-percent of Likud party members cast ballots Thursday's after Mr. Sharon urged Israelis to vote despite what he called "Arab terrorism" designed to influence the elections.

He spoke after gunmen attacked a polling station and nearby bus stop in the northern Israeli town of Beit Shean, killing six Israelis and wounded at least 30 others.

One of the attackers was reported to have been carrying an explosives belt that did not detonate. Israeli security forces returned fire during the attacks and killed at least two of the gunmen.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed wing of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah group, has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the Palestinian leadership condemned them, saying attacks against civilians will not help the Palestinian cause.

Mr. Sharon says there will be no peace negotiations with the Palestinians until violence ends, but Mr. Mitzna, a former general and the mayor of the port city of Haifa, says he wants to resume peace talks with the Palestinians immediately and pull Israeli troops and Jewish settlers out of the Gaza Strip.