Jerusalem, Apr 16: Israelis were studying the
full details of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan today after its emphatic endorsement by US President George W. Bush as polls showed the project was likely to be
approved by the premier's party.
The transcript of the plan was published for the
first time in Israeli newspapers as Sharon himself flew back
to Tel Aviv after his crunch talks at the White House on
Wednesday.
Sharon passed the first of three hurdles when he secured the backing of Bush for the project, which will see
Israel evacuate all 21 of its settlements in the Gaza Strip
and four in the West Bank but keep control of other land it
has occupied since the end of the 1967 six day war.
However he must still persuade a majority of the
200,000 members of his right-wing Likud Party to vote in
favour in a May 2 ballot before then putting it to members of
his cabinet.
A poll by the top-selling Yediot Aharonot daily found
54 percent of Likud members in favour and 38 percent opposed,
while another survey published by the Maariv newspaper found
50 percent in favour and 38 percent against.
Some 500 Likud members were questioned for both
surveys which have a 4.3 percent margin of error.
Even if he does manage to win the backing of his
party, Sharon still faces the prospect of having to stitch
together a new coalition after two ultra-nationalist parties,
the National Union and National Religious Party, both pledged
to quit if the disengagement plan is ever implemented.
Bureau Report
