Israeli Voters Hand Sharon Strong Victory

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his rightist party, Likud, crushed Israel's Labor Party in parliamentary elections here Tuesday night, as voters vented their doubts about any prompt, secure end to the bitter conflict with the Palestinians.

Amram Mitzna, Labor's chairman, called Mr. Sharon to concede less than an hour after polls closed at 10 p.m. Israeli television projected that Likud could win almost twice as many seats as Labor in the 120-seat Parliament.

Based on results from 99.9 percent of the polling centers, Likud won 37 seats, and Labor only 19 -- the fewest ever for the party with a mighty past.

Labor appeared still to be paying for Israelis' disillusionment with the Oslo accords, the all-but-dead 1993 agreement that was to have created a new era of peace and prosperity in the Middle East. Mr. Sharon, despite his as yet unfulfilled promise of peace and security, is widely viewed as the most dependable leader in a time of deep uncertainty.

Another clear winner was an anti-religious party, Shinui, which appears to have surged to 15 seats from 6 in the last Parliament.

The party's name means ''Change,'' and its rise reflected in part a protest against Israel's status quo. It also reflected frustration with the benefits and privileges the state offers to highly observant Orthodox Jews, subsidies that Shinui has vowed to curtail.

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