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Likud Tepid on Sharon Gaza Withdrawal Plan
JERUSALEM (AP) - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon presented his proposal for a Gaza Strip withdrawal to Cabinet ministers from his Likud Party on Sunday, which met significant opposition but apparently not enough to sink the plan, participants said. Since Sharon said last month he is considering withdrawing from much of Gaza if peace efforts remain frozen, fighting has intensified in the strip, with both sides trying to claim victory. Sharon presented his withdrawal proposal to 13 Likud ministers on Sunday and promised to hold a vote on it in the full 24-member Cabinet once he has received U.S. backing.For now, the Bush administration has withheld judgment, saying it is still studying the idea, but that it will not back any unilateral actions that could disrupt the U.S.-led "road map" peace plan. Sharon aides have met frequently in recent weeks with Bush advisers to discuss the plan. In Sunday's meeting, it became apparent that seven or eight Likud ministers oppose the plan or will support it only if certain conditions are met, said Uzi Landau, a minister without portfolio and one of the opponents. However, the full Cabinet, which also has ministers from both moderate and ultra-nationalist coalition parties, would likely approve the plan by one or two votes, political analysts said. Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seen as the leader of the hawkish wing of Likud, gave his qualified support, and this suggested other opponents might eventually fall in line. "I wouldn't necessarily have initiated this process, but it is already on the table," Netanyahu said of the withdrawal plan. He said Israel should now try to minimize the security risks involved. Some Likud ministers said their support depends on U.S. guarantees to Israel. Sharon reportedly seeks Washington's backing for annexing large Israeli settlement blocs in the West Bank in a final peace deal, in exchange for a Gaza withdrawal. "At the moment, it doesn't look like there is anything close to this (such a promise), and therefore we will examine it based on the American guarantees," Education Minister Limor Livnat, another opponent, told The Associated Press.
Sharon may have an easier time passing the plan in parliament than in his Cabinet. Shimon Peres, who heads the moderate opposition Labor Party, said Sunday that Labor would support any proposal to dismantle settlements. "If this government ... leaves Gaza, we will vote in favor in the parliament. If this government wants to dismantle settlements, we will vote in favor," Peres told reporters.
Posted by: Steve White 2004-03-21 |
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