Sharon faces party revolt before Gaza poll

[CShine]

Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, is fighting to contain a rebellion among his party members which would seriously undermine his authority if it leads to defeat in next Sunday's Likud referendum on his plan to withdraw from Gaza. Three right-wing Likud members of his cabinet who last week gave grudging support to the disengagement plan - including the Finance Minister and possible leadership rival Benjamin Netanyahu - have now made it clear that they do not intend to join the campaign to win over the votes of the 200,000 Likud members next weekend.

Leaked accounts of a tense and fractious meeting of the cabinet on Sunday disclose that Mr Netanyahu, the Foreign Minister, Sylvan Shalo, and the Education Minister, Limor Livnat, all told Mr Sharon that he would have to be content with the somewhat reluctant declarations of support they offered publicly earlier this month.

The fear among supporters of the campaign in favour of disengagement from settlements in Gaza and a handful of small ones in the northern West Bank is that the three ministers are hedging their bets against possible defeat for the plan in the referendum.

The scale of the gamble that Mr Sharon has embarked upon has been underlined by some polling figures suggesting that support for the plan could be slipping despite the substantial boost that Mr Sharon secured in Washington last week, when President Bush in effect ruled out a right of return of Palestinian refugees to Israel and accepted that some Israeli settlement blocks in the West Bank would remain in Israeli hands after any final peace deal with the Palestinians.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=515686

[markses]

1. He should be clapped in shackles

Of course, this whole business turns on whether Sharon is being too soft... Ay yay yay. Sickness is pervasive.

Oh, and by the way:

President Bush in effect ruled out a right of return of Palestinian refugees to Israel and accepted that some Israeli settlement blocks in the West Bank would remain in Israeli hands after any final peace deal with the Palestinians.

By what right does the US President get to rule on the status of land in Israel/Palestine?

[burythehatchet]

3. I thought the same thing

thought I was crazy

By "no right" is the answer. WHO CARES what you think, George?

[Rex]

4. That's Emperor Chimpy to you, citizen!

He rules all the lands of Oz!

[0007]

5. I'll second that. The US President has no right to rule on the status

of land in Israel/Palestine.

Sharon is a war criminal as in junior and the many in the cabal he's part of.

[burythehatchet]

2. When are these idiots going to learn. GWB is a pariah

the support of the pResident does NOT provide any benefit