Jerusalem - The former prime minister, Mr Shimon Peres (76), the oldest member of the Israeli Knesset, yesterday swore in the 120 members of a newly-elected parliament cast overwhelmingly in his pro-peace image, writes David Horovitz.
And yet, although approximately two-thirds of the legislators favour an accelerated drive toward peace, the prime minister-elect, Mr Peres's One Israel party leader, Mr Ehud Barak, is still stuck in the midst of complicated coalition negotiations.
Hours before taking his oath of allegiance to the state, Mr Barak issued his clearest pledge yet to speed up peace efforts with the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab world.