Sharon presents revised Gaza plan

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday asked rebellious Likud party legislators to accept a revised Gaza withdrawal plan, but the meeting was cut short after he came under sharp verbal attack.

"You have no majority in any party forum," Likud legislator Naomi Blumenthal told Sharon, accusing him of ignoring the party's wishes.

The turbulent meeting was a sign of a growing Likud rebellion against Sharon, who says he will push the plan through at all costs, even though Likud members resoundingly rejected it in a referendum earlier this month.

On Sunday, Sharon failed to secure a majority in the Cabinet for his Gaza plan, and postponed a vote until next week.

Signs of Sharon's growing political weakness have fueled talk about early elections. Sharon himself has threatened to reshape his coalition, including firing ministers, to create a Cabinet majority for the Gaza plan.

Attempting to stem a Likud rebellion, Sharon presented his revised Gaza plan at a closed-door meeting of party legislators yesterday. The proposal differs only slightly from the one rejected several weeks ago.

In the original plan, settlers and soldiers would have been removed from Gaza and four West Bank settlements at once, and settlement buildings would have been left intact. In the new plan, the withdrawal would take place in four stages, and most buildings in the settlements would be demolished.

Trying to reassure legislators that he will not permit Gaza to become a launching pad for Palestinian attacks, Sharon said the withdrawal could be stopped at any time.

"If developments on the ground are negative, there is the possibility of putting an end to it," an official present at the meeting quoted Sharon as saying.

He said the first phase -- dismantling three isolated Gaza settlements -- was unlikely to be completed before March 2005.

Blumenthal, a staunch opponent of the plan, castigated Sharon for trying to reverse the Likud referendum. "You are belittling us, scorning us, threatening us. Do you want to disengage from the Likud?" she said.

Sharon did not respond, but the Likud faction chief, Gideon Saar, quickly ended the meeting, participants said.

The withdrawal plan has been endorsed by President Bush and also won the backing of Egypt, which ruled Gaza before Israel captured it in the 1967 Mideast war.

Sharon refuses to coordinate a Gaza withdrawal with the Palestinians, but has agreed to accept Egypt as a go-between. Last week, Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman met with Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to work out security arrangements after an Israeli pullback.

There were new signs yesterday that Egypt is taking an increasingly active role in implementing the Gaza withdrawal. President Hosni Mubarak called Sharon yesterday and "reiterated his willingness to advance the [withdrawal] plan," according to Sharon's office.

The two leaders agreed to form a committee, and Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom is to fly to Cairo on Thursday to work out the details.

Speaking in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei said his government would "not stand in the way" of an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Qurei also raised the possibility of a meeting with Sharon. "We are ready for it, especially if we think it is in our interest," he said.

The two leaders have not met since Qurei became prime minister last fall. Efforts to arrange a summit were bogged down by disagreements over the agenda.

The Egyptians proposed reorganizing the Palestinian security forces ahead of a Gaza pullback, and Qurei said yesterday his government is considering reducing the number of security branches from 12 to three.