RAMALLAH, West Bank – Nearly half of the 24 ministers joining a new Palestinian Cabinet yesterday hold doctorates – many earned at topflight universities in America or elsewhere in the West. The new lineup of doctors, lawyers, engineers, and economists embrace a one-word credo – reform – in sharp contrast to the outgoing body of Yasser Arafat cronies.

After swearing in his new ministers late yesterday, Palestinian Arab leader Mahmoud Abbas told reporters, “They are young and professional. … We have chosen them very carefully.”

The Cabinet revolution, spurred by lawmakers’ demand for a clean sweep of the political hacks associated with Arafat’s corruption-plagued regime, signaled that the decade-old Palestinian Authority is ready for a new era.

The Cabinet has an economist heading the Finance Ministry, a physician as health minister, and a statistician as labor minister. By contrast, the outgoing Cabinet featured an Arafat crony as interior minister, a local affairs minister who purportedly got rich skimming government contracts, and the widow of a famed Palestinian Arab fighter who is best known for her frequent appearances in corruption reports.

The new Cabinet reflects the priorities of Mr. Abbas, who has pledged to clean up Palestinian Arab politics as he embarks on a renewed peace track with Israel following four years of bloody conflict. The Palestinian Legislative Council approved the new Cabinet yesterday by a vote of 54-12.

“It’s a turning point in the rationale, the approach, and the methodology of forming Cabinets, in going beyond political patronage … and to look for people who can deliver,” said legislator Hanan Ashrawi, who has long sought reform.

Among the key appointments is a tough ex-general, Nasser Yousef, as interior minister charged with overseeing security reform and trying to rein in Palestinian Arab terrorists. He replaces Hakam Bilawi, who saw his job as turning control of security forces back to Arafat. The former Palestinian Arab representative to the United Nations, Nasser Al-Kidwa, was chosen as foreign minister.

The only old-guard holdover is Nabil Shaath, who gives up his job as foreign minister to become deputy prime minister in charge of information. One of the most visible Palestinian Arab spokesmen during the last decade, Saeb Erekat, will leave the Cabinet.

Legislators led by rebels from the ruling Fatah Party rejected two earlier lists presented by Prime Minister Qurei, insisting on new faces. The legislators themselves had plenty to fear – polls show consistently that Palestinian Arab voters are fed up with their government, raising the prospect of a first-ever Fatah defeat in parliamentary elections set for July.