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4 Sivan 5762 - May 15, 2002 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
Likud Votes Against Allowing Palestinian State
by Yated Ne'eman Staff

The Likud Party voted Monday night never to allow the creation of a Palestinian state, defying Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and apparently supporting his rival Binyamin Netanyahu.

The vote does not change the policy of the current coalition government, but makes it harder to move negotiations forward between the parties, especially now that the U.S. has publicly endorsed the creation of such a state.

Mr. Sharon himself has said that a Palestinian state is inevitable, although in a strong speech to the party meeting he demanded an end to Palestinian terrorism and the enactment of political reform among the Palestinians before there is any talk of establishing a state.

The vote is bound to anger the Arab world by suggesting that Palestinians should not expect a state to emerge from negotiations with Israel, and thereby giving an advantage to groups like the Hamas, which argue for continued armed struggle.

The Likud Party vote tonight was orchestrated by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who wants to lead the party into elections. Mr. Netanyahu had bet on the Sharon government lasting only a few months, and he remains popular within Likud, taking a stance even further to the right of Mr. Sharon's and calling for the expulsion or elimination of Mr. Arafat.

Mr. Netanyahu, who still controls the Likud central committee from his own time as prime minister, organized the vote to undermine Mr. Sharon within his own party, at a time when Mr. Sharon has his highest approval ratings in opinion polls for his tough stance against terrorism and his military campaign against the Palestinians in the West Bank.

Mr. Sharon has talked of an independent Palestinian state, but essentially a demilitarized one, without the means to attack Israel.

 

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