JERUSALEM, 13 July 2004 — Israeli opposition leader Shimon Peres yesterday agreed to enter talks on forming a unity government with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and push through the Gaza pullout plan.
Hours later Sharon survived a no-confidence vote in Parliament although the opposition, in an embarrassing blow to his political prestige, tied him in the ballot. The final tally on the no-confidence motion on the government’s economic policy ended 55-55, short of the 61 votes the opposition needed to topple Sharon’s shaky coalition government in the 120-seat Parliament.
A first count showed a one-vote majority in favor of the no-confidence motion, but Parliament Speaker Reuven Rivlin said that was wrong due to a problem with the electronic voting system.
The ballot illustrated how vulnerable Sharon’s rightist coalition has become after far-right defections last month in protest against the pullout plan cost him his parliamentary majority.
In a warning to rebels in his right-wing Likud party, Sharon threatened to call early elections if they did not back his efforts to broaden the government and ensure the withdrawal.
Sharon invited Peres and his center-left Labor party to look at forming a coalition that could remove Jewish settlers from the occupied territory.
“We will enter negotiations,” Peres told Labor parliamentarians after speaking to Sharon. “We must leave Gaza, we must take down the settlements.”
Israel’s oldest political warhorses, friends for decades despite their rivalry, met at breakfast to discuss forming a coalition. Peres said further negotiations still depended on winning party acceptance in a ballot today.
Some sticking points remain in coalition negotiations, including wrangling over senior portfolios, particularly the job of foreign minister for Peres. However, both sides said they expect a deal quickly.
Sharon’s initiative for unilateral “disengagement” from conflict with the Palestinians means abandoning all 21 Gaza settlements and four out of 120 in the West Bank by late next year. Both territories were captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
Israel’s Cabinet approved the withdrawal project after Sharon fired two far-right ministers, but that cost the former general the majority in Parliament he will need next year if he is to push through the phases of the US-backed plan.
Most Israelis would like to part with Gaza, but the far right fiercely opposes it.
The coalition talks were held as US Middle East envoys were in the region to discuss the pullout plan. White House officials Elliot Abrams and Steve Hadley met with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei and are to meet with Sharon today.
— Additional input from agencies
