JERUSALEM, 29 May 2004 — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gambled yesterday on a risky showdown with opponents of a Gaza withdrawal, asking his Cabinet to approve the entire plan after failing to win over skeptical ministers with last-minute compromise proposals. But with a majority of ministers still unconvinced, Sharon’s spokesman said a vote on the pullout could be postponed. Cabinet is due to debate the proposal tomorrow, but Sharon is unlikely to call a vote unless he is guaranteed a majority.
“There will be a debate. We are still unsure if there will be a vote,” said Sharon’s spokesman, Asaf Shariv.
The political wrangling sharpened the rivalry between Sharon and Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a former premier, who is popular among Likud party members and has refused to endorse the withdrawal plan.
Without Netanyahu’s support, Sharon has little chance of winning the approval of the divided Cabinet.
“It seems we are in a head-to-head clash,” said a source close to Netanyahu, a possible successor as prime minister.
If the plan is put to a vote, it could lead to a Cabinet shake-up, regardless of the outcome. If it is approved, two pro-settler parties in Sharon’s coalition are expected to quit. If it is rejected, Sharon is expected to rearrange his coalition by bringing in the moderate Labor Party, in hopes of getting the plan approved in the new forum.
Sharon’s attempts to reach a compromise with the hard-liners failed this week. He had offered to present just a small portion of the plan to the Cabinet, but still was unable to secure a Cabinet majority.
Sharon believes settlements in Gaza, home to 7,500 Israelis, must be sacrificed to assure the future of settlements in the West Bank, where more than 200,000 Jews live.
Shariv said that if during tomorrow’s debate it becomes clear Sharon has a majority, the Cabinet would be asked to vote. However, he added, he did not expect any ministers to shift in the next couple of days.
The United States endorsed Sharon’s original withdrawal plan, a slight variation of the current one. US Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday US officials would comment on the new plan after it had been presented to the Cabinet “and we have had a chance to examine it.”
The revised withdrawal plan, distributed to ministers and released by Sharon’s office yesterday, calls for Israel to remove all settlements from the Gaza Strip and four in the West Bank in four stages. It also says Israel would eventually annex parts of the West Bank. Another long-term goal, the plan says, is to stop any Palestinians from working in Israel. “In any future peace deal, there will be no Israeli settlement in the Gaza Strip. On the other hand, it is clear that some areas of the West Bank will become part of the state of Israel,” the plan says.
The Cabinet would vote separately on each of the four phases, starting with the evacuation of three small Gaza settlements — Morag, Netzarim and Kfar Darom.
Settlers’ homes, and “sensitive structures including synagogues,” would be destroyed, while industrial, commercial and agricultural areas would be handed over to an international third party for the use of Palestinians.
Powell has said he would prefer Jewish settlements in Gaza to be left intact, to be passed on to the Palestinians from a trust.
