OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 13 May — Israel scrapped a planned invasion of the Gaza Strip yesterday as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon faced a strong party challenge from former hard-line Premier Benjamin Netanyahu.
Scrapping the plan, which was undermined by diplomatic pressure and dissent from generals, pushed the focus of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict back into the political arena for the time being.
But Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Israel’s decision to shelve the assault should not be interpreted as surrender. "We reserve the right to respond when we want and how we want — period," Ben-Eliezer said.
Sharon retreated from a planned Gaza Strip offensive but faced a key policy battle within his Likud party over the question of Palestinian statehood. Supporters of Netanyahu said they would push a resolution through the central committee declaring the party would never support the creation of such a state. Sharon has said he envisages a Palestinian state at the end of a long peacemaking process. Likud officials raced to hammer out a compromise.
If the resolution is passed at the forum, it could tie Sharon’s hands in future peace efforts and weaken his standing in Likud as Netanyahu gears up for an expected leadership challenge ahead of next year’s general election.
Netanyahu initiated the debate by offering a party-resolution stating, "The Likud will not enable the creation of a Palestinian State west of the Jordan River".
Sharon told hundreds of excited party members congregated in a concert hall in central Tel Aviv: "This is not the time to discuss irrelevant issues". He said such a decision made now may enhance international pressure on Israel.
Meanwhile, Cyprus said 13 exiled Palestinians temporarily on its territory as part of a deal that ended a five-week Israeli siege of Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity would have to leave by Wednesday.
This was Cyprus’ deadline for them to quit the Mediterranean island and continue their exile in other countries, government spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said.
European Union foreign ministers were due to meet in Brussels today to discuss where to disperse the fighters, who left the church compound on Friday after an armed standoff with Israeli troops since April 2.
In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian laborer shot dead his Israeli employer near a checkpoint leading to the Jewish settlement of Rafiah Yam, an army spokesman said.
In the West Bank, Israeli troops raided the city of Tulkarm and arrested two people. The incidents followed an easing of tensions on the Israel-Gaza border.
