JERUSALEM, Jan 9 (AFP) - Israel officials said late Sunday they hoped the election of Mahmud Abbas, whom exit polls suggested overwhelmingly won the Palestinian presidential election to succeed Yasser Arafat, would usher in a new era of peace.
According to an exit poll released shortly after the official close of voting at 1900 GMT, Abbas had secured a landslide victory, garnering 66.3 percent of the votes while the closest contender, independent candidate Mustafa Barghuti registered only 19.7 percent.
"We hope that by electing Abu Mazen (Abbas), the Palestinians have ushered in a new era of peace and are taking the path of compromise and dialogue," a senior government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"The Palestinians have been able to freely and democratically elect the person who will rule them and we hope they will renounce terrorism and the culture of hatred and death spread by Yasser Arafat", who died two months ago, he added.
As reactions began pouring in over Abbas' projected landslide victory, Palestinian election officials began the arduous task of counting the votes under the watchful eye of thousands of international monitors. The official result is due to be published early Monday.
Sources close to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon confirmed earlier Sunday that the hawkish Israeli leader was ready to meet the new president immediately, and revive high-level contacts which had been frozen since 2003.
Responding to Abbas' apparent victory, Israel's deputy prime minister Ehud Olmert told US news network CNN that the PLO chairman's main challenge now lay before him in the form of a crackdown on militant groups.
"Now after being elected, the main challenge is still ahead of him. Will he fight the terrorists and stop the bloody war against us?" he asked.
But Olmert also praised the Palestinians for participating in a democratic election process, which took place with any reports of serious incidents.
"I think to the best of my understanding and knowledge it's a democratic process and this in itself is enormously important because it's the only democratic process in the Arab world," Olmert added.
"The prime minister intends to meet the elected Palestinian president as soon possible," a senior Sharon adviser told AFP several hours before the ballot boxes closed, without specifically mentioning Abbas.
The source said any meeting between Sharon and the new president-elect would focus on "security issues and security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority" ahead of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, which is due to take place later this year.
Sharon, who completely boycotted Yasser Arafat for the last few years, has been cautious not to be seen as endorsing Abbas but lately has said he believes the coming year will present "an opportunity for an historic breakthrough in relations between us and the Palestinians".
Israeli newspaper commentators from across the political spectrum voiced optimism over the election and the likely victory of the dovish Abbas.
"Two new governments will be established within the next few days, one in Jerusalem, one in Ramallah. The entire world is looking to these governments, and especially to their leaders. Great hopes, enormous dangers, heavy storms await them," Ben Caspit wrote in an editorial for the Maariv daily.
In an analysis entitled "An Optimist in a Pessimistic World" Yediot Ahronot's Roni Shaked also welcomed Abbas' rise.
"Abu Mazen, who is expected to be elected the Palestinian president today, is an optimistic man with good intentions," he wrote.
"He wants to end terrorism, to rehabilitate the economy and to pull his people out of the deep mud into which they have sunk these past four and a half years," Shaked said. "He even believes he will be able to get along with Sharon."
Maariv's Amit Cohen argued that Abbas, who has been head and shoulders above his rivals in the polls, "needs a landslide victory."
"If a substantial portion of Palestinian voters stay home, Abu Mazen will not be able to present himself as 'everybody's rais'," he wrote, using the Arabic word for leader.
Sharon had pledged Israel would ensure the elections took place smoothly, and despite a few initial problems, no major obstacles were reported.

01/09/2005 20:39 GMT - AFP