Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is interpreting Likud voters'
rejection of his "disengagement plan" as a rejection of the
details of his plan and not as a decision about the overall
concept. Thus his main response to the Likud party vote will
apparently be to scale down the proposal.
Sharon's right-wing Likud Party rejected his Gaza pullout
proposal by 60 percent to 40 percent in a referendum last
Sunday. The vote had no legal force, but the defeat has cost
him the political momentum he had built up. Some observers
raised questions about the stability of his coalition
government, but this seemed to be based mostly on wishful
thinking. No opinion polls predicted the wide margin of
Sharon's defeat in the Likud voting. All those involved in
the campaign stressed that it was a vote on the plan and not
on Sharon, and that they continue to support Sharon as the
prime minister and leader of the Likud party.
Speaking on Monday with Likud MPs, Mr. Sharon said he would
not abandon the plan.
"The Israeli people did not elect me to sit with my arms
folded for four years. The people of Israel elected me in
order to find the way to achieve calm, security and peace and
to advance Israel's economy, and this is what I intend to do.
. . . I will continue to lead Israel according to my
understanding, my conscience and my public duty," Mr. Sharon
said. He made a point of thanking Bush for his support. "If
anyone thought that the referendum results would result in a
diplomatic freeze, they were mistaken," Sharon said.
According to the official results of the referendum, 99,652
of the Likud's 193,000 members voted, a 51.6 percent voter
turnout. 59,382 (59.5 percent) were against the plan and
39,601 (39.7 percent) in favor.
The plan that was voted down Sunday called for Israel to
withdraw from all 21 of its settlements in Gaza and also from
four small settlements in the northern part of Shomron before
the end of 2005. Mr. Sharon says he proposed this unilateral
plan because the current Palestinian leadership is not a
negotiating partner, and in order to achieve quiet it is
necessary to reduce the friction with the Palestinians. He
said that he still remains committed to the Road Map, but it
will be implemented when the Palestinians realize there is no
alternative for them but to abandon terror.
The prime minister is now reportedly considering evacuating
only five settlements, instead of the 26 that were slated for
removal under the rejected plan. The five are Kfar Darom,
Netzarim and Morag in the Gaza strip, and the northern West
Bank settlements of Ganim and Kadim. All five are
particularly isolated and surrounded by hostile
populations.
This was the first proposal and it may not be final, but it
is clear that the revision will drastically reduce the number
of settlements to be removed.
Nonetheless, Sharon is committed to disengagement. Ehud
Olmert said, "The alternative to disengagement is more
murder, terrorism and attacks."
Opinion polls report that, nationwide, a solid majority of
Israelis support the Gaza withdrawal, and political analysts
say that Mr. Sharon appears to have the backing of a majority
of the Knesset.
However Sharon has been unable to persuade his traditional
right-wing allies. Many are ideologically opposed to making
territorial concessions to the Palestinians. They also say
that to do would be a "reward for terrorism."
Residents of Neve Dekalim in Gaza on Monday placed the
foundation stone for what they said would be an expansion of
their community.
Labor leader Shimon Peres has called for new elections,
saying Labor should run on the disengagement ticket. Likud
has shown itself incapable of pushing through the potentially
historic plan, Peres said.
Other options that were mentioned include holding a national
referendum. However that requires complicated legislation and
getting it through could take time.
Another possibility is that Sharon would precipitate
elections. Some pundits talk about a secular, centrist bloc --
composed of Likud, Labor and Shinui -- running together on a
disengagement ticket. However it is not clear if there is
really anything that would bind such a bloc.
The US has not issued any official statement since the
referendum results were announced. The Bush administration
clearly wants Sharon to deliver on his promise to pull
Israeli troops out of the Gaza Strip, and to evacuate Jewish
settlements in Gaza and the northern West Bank.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told US President George W. Bush
in a telephone call Monday that he remains committed to his
unilateral disengagement plan despite its rejection by Likud
party voters, a source briefed on the conversation said.
"They're not happy about this," one well-informed source
briefed by senior US officials said. "But the key for them is
that Sharon's still committed to moving forward. The White
House understood from the beginning how difficult this was
going to be."
Last month, Bush gave Sharon a letter implicitly endorsing
the idea of Israel holding on to parts of Yehuda and Shomron
in a final peace deal with the Palestinians and said that
Palestinian refugees would return to a future state of
Palestine, rather than Israel. The guarantees were clearly
designed to boost Sharon's chances of winning the referendum.
The US came under a barrage of criticism from both Arab and
European capitals for its statements.
During the negotiations over Bush's letter supporting the
plan, Israeli diplomatic officials said one of Washington's
fears was that it was giving a substantial down payment on
goods that Sharon may not be able to deliver.
According to Israeli officials, Sharon still intends to
travel to Washington in two weeks to attend the annual
American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference.
He is expected to meet both Bush and Democratic presidential
challenger John Kerry during that visit.
The Prime Minister's Office denied reports that Sharon
intends to fire Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for his
inactivity ahead of the referendum. But one official close to
the prime minister said Sharon was "more than angry" at
Netanyahu's behavior.
