Knesset President Reuven Rivlin announced that Sharon's four-party coalition government won the approval by 66 votes to 48.

The new government, which is based on a coalition of four parties including the Likud, Shinui, National Union and National Religious Party, controls 68 seats of 120-member Parliament.

Twenty ministers from Sharon's new cabinet took the oath, while three more ministers will not be sworn in until Monday due to procedural reasons.

During his presenting speech, Sharon said his government's "first order of business" would be to heal Israel's ailing economy, which has suffered badly from the protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Sharon set tough conditions for renewing negotiations with the Palestinians, even as US President George W. Bush urged him to work quickly toward a Palestinian state.

He said that before any progress can be made on the diplomatic front, there would have to be "a cessation of terror and incitement," a change in the Palestinian leadership, and fundamental reform of the Palestinian National Authority.

Sharon, 75, ended his speech on a personal note, saying that his only ambition is to lead his people "to a new path ... a path of reconciliation, a path of peace."

That could prove to be a tough task for Sharon. During the speech, he was heckled by rightist lawmakers from ultra-Orthodox parties, which were kept out of the ruling coalition for the first time in 25 years.

After 29 months of violence that has buffeted Israel's economy and international standing, the hardline Israeli leader is under high pressure to change course in order to restore peace in the region.

Although favoring a limited Palestinian state if violence ends, Sharon's new government's charter insisted that even starting talks on the terms of statehood will require special Cabinet approval.

That will be a difficult hurdle, since two coalition parties and many members of Sharon's Likud Party fiercely oppose the idea.

(China Daily February 28, 2003)