Though some of the details were released earlier than he
seemed to have planned, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's
unilateral approach to a settlement with the Palestinians
will involve withdrawing from 17 out of 20 settlements in the
Gaza Strip, it was revealed on Monday. Deputy Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert said that the evacuation of settlements in the
Gaza Strip will commence as early as June or July this year.
The only settlements that will be retained are those that are
right next to the Green Line.
The full plan has not yet been drawn up, but Sharon said he
asked National Security Council chairman Giora Eiland to
complete the plan within a week in order to be ready to
present it to Bush when he visits Washington, most likely on
the last weekend in February or early March. Sharon hopes
that US President George W. Bush will back his unilateral
disengagement plan. So far the US has been reserved in its
comments about Sharon's new policy direction.
The prime minister maintains that without an effective
Palestinian partner, the best thing is for Israel to withdraw
unilaterally to defensible borders in the West Bank and Gaza,
including pulling out of nearly all Gaza Strip
settlements.
"Some of the Jewish communities will not be able to remain in
the Gaza Strip in the future, because of security problems
and the demographic situation," Sharon told the Likud MKs at
a faction meeting on Monday.
"I don't know whether it will be done in one fell swoop or in
stages, but from a long-term perspective it would not be
right to continue Jewish settlement in Gaza. We must consider
the possibility of moving residents to other places."
Sharon said remaining in Gaza Strip settlements would be "a
heavy security burden and a recipe for endless conflict."
He said he would eventually bring his plan to a vote in the
cabinet and the Knesset, but downplayed the possibility of a
vote in the Likud faction.
Earlier on Monday, Sharon said in an off-the-record briefing
with a Ha'aretz columnist that he had given an order
to plan for the evacuation of 17 settlements in the Gaza
Strip. He said in the briefing that some 7,500 residents of
Gaza settlements would have to leave their homes.
Ha'aretz angered Sharon by running a report of the
briefing on its Internet site with full attribution.
Sharon's specific statements in the briefing shocked the
Right, including several top ministers who were unaware that
the prime minister had made such decisions. The heads of the
Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza
Strip said they would vigorously oppose the plan.
The settlers intend to pressure the National Religious Party
and the National Union to leave the government. Leaders of
those two parties said they would reconsider their remaining
in the coalition. Later on Monday, all of the National Union
and NRP MKs, plus several from the Likud, boycotted a no-
confidence motion in the Knesset which was only defeated by
one vote.
However many outside observers noted that it looks more like
the National Union and NRP are trying to pressure Sharon
while remaining within the government, rather than truly
preparing to leave.
Deputy Education Minister Zvi Hendel said he believes his
National Union party should remain in the government but try
to get Sharon replaced by a prime minister more loyal to the
Land of Israel. Hendel, a resident of the Gaza Strip, said
the prime minister was motivated solely by police inquiries
into his affairs and not by political processes or peace. "As
the depth of the investigation (omek hachakirah), so
is the size of the uprooting (godel ha'akirah)," is a
phrase coined by Hendel.
"He has to change the agenda," Hendel said. "He doesn't
believe even one word of it."
Hendel apparently meant that the increasing pressure on the
prime minister from the legal arms of the government,
investigating Sharon and his associates on charges of
corruption, is leading Sharon to make bold moves that will
make it politically difficult to take legal moves against him
and, perhaps, to remove political motives from the
considerations of the legal experts dealing with his case.
There is a widespread perception that following policies
preferred by the Israeli Left has a beneficial effect on
one's legal fortunes in Israel.
At the Likud faction meeting on Monday, angry MKs took turns
attacking the prime minister. When asked why he would not
allow a vote on his plan at the meeting, Sharon responded
that "even if the entire faction votes against me, I will
stick with what I believe is the right thing to do."
Opposition leader Shimon Peres expressed skepticism about
Sharon's plan, saying, "We have had our share of plans," and
"planning is not implementing." He rejected calls from Shinui
to join the government to back Sharon's upcoming diplomatic
moves.
Shinui leader Yosef Lapid said Sharon personally told him
before his Herzliya speech in December that he favors
withdrawing from the Gaza Strip. He said he was surprised
that Sharon did not include his plan in that speech.
Sharon said that without taking unilateral steps, Israel
would be made a hostage to the Palestinians to wait until
they see fit to meet with him. He accused the Palestinians of
trying to "stall for time until the road map disappears, in
order to get a plan better for them and worse for Israel."
Chief PA negotiator Saeb Erekat said Palestinians would
welcome any Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, but said
the latest plan is "a public relations exercise."
The settlement movement has called upon its former patron,
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, to resign, saying it intends to
launch an intensive lobbying effort in the US Congress
against Sharon's plan for unilateral disengagement from the
Palestinians. They hope to have the support of the Christian
Right, which has given strong support to the settlement
endeavor over the years.
