The internal and external policy profile of Mr Benjamin Netanyahu's right wing coalition government in Israel has become clearer with the announcement of his cabinet and his appeal to Israel's Arab neighbours to make peace. It is more reassuring on domestic than foreign policy, but on both counts it remains uncertain and provisional, awaiting events and responses from the Israeli public and international opinion.
Israeli commentators were surprised that Mr Netanyahu did not at first fill three important posts in his new cabinet and at the high profile of the individuals concerned. Mr Ariel Sharon still awaits a cabinet position after David Levy accepted the job as foreign minister under protest and Mr Netanyahu has reserved the housing and religious portfolios to himself pending a resolution of factional quarrels in the coalition. It is difficult to interpret precisely what is at issue, but at least the most hard line figures have been kept out of such sensitive posts as defence and internal security, which have gone to relatively moderate members of the new cabinet. The same applies to the new finance minister, Mr Dan Meridor, who will have to oversee a radical programme of cutting bureaucracy, privatisation, liberalising trade, boosting the stock market and shoring up small business competitiveness. He will have the advice of a new economic council to operate in parallel with a similar body overseeing security policy.
Mr Sharon is tipped for an infrastructure ministry, having failed in a bid for the finance post. If this is accurate, it would give him responsibility for housing an issue dear to the hearts of the working class Jews who voted decisively for Likud but also for the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, which the new government is pledged to reinforce and expand. This is one of the commitments implicit in the new government's foreign policy guidelines. These rule out a Palestinian state, reject a compromise on Jerusalem, the right of refugees to return, or the swapping of land for peace with Syria. Mr Netanyahu did not refer to them in his speech yesterday, but they remain on the record as firm indications of his government's intent. The outlook for peace in the region looks bleak as Arab leaders gather for a summit this weekend to assess the new political landscape following Mr Netanyahu's triumph over Mr Shimon Peres. The outgoing prime minister gave a forceful warning of the pitfalls ahead when he responded to Mr Netanyahu in the Knesset, warning him that he will have to deal directly with Mr Yasser Arafat a reality the new prime minister has been very slow to acknowledge.
A great deal will now depend on how the international community responds to the emerging pattern of Middle East politics. Mr Netanyahu is clearly attempting to reassure Washington that his election will not upend the peace process in which Mr Clinton has invested so much effort. The same will apply to the European Union and its individual member states, which could apply much more pressure for compromise in the Middle East region. A conflict with the potential to affect so many interests around the world will require redoubled efforts to contain and resolve it, rather than risk an escalation of instability.