Likud vote clears way for Gaza pullout

[Esslinger]

The Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, has overcome the main obstacle to his plan to withdraw troops and settlers from Gaza thanks to a crucial victory within his own Likud party.

After a string of recent defeats at the hands of party activists and lurking rivals, Mr Sharon won the backing of the Likud central committee for his proposal to begin coalition talks with the Labour Party - a key element of his Gaza "disengagement plan".

Mr Sharon won a convincing 62 per cent of the 2266 votes cast, and also had the backing of 29 of the party's 40 legislators, with nine voting against. The last time the proposal came before the committee, in August, Mr Sharon's camp was defeated by party activists who are generally seen as more right-wing than the party's voter base and the public at large.

Likud negotiators are now clear to begin coalition talks with Labour and two small ultra-religious parties as early as this weekend. The veteran Labour Party leader, Shimon Peres, says that his party will enter the coalition solely to add its weight to the disengagement plan, which Labour views as the first step towards a much wider withdrawal from the West Bank as well.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Middle-East-Conflict/Likud-vote-clears-way-for-Gaza-pullout/2004/12/10/1102625537075.html?oneclick=true

[Just Me]

1. Perhaps, this man has actually grasped his own sense of humanity.

As a human being, myself,...I can only,...never give up.