Sharon warns of risk of rejecting Gaza pullout plan

1.00pm

JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned rebellious cabinet members on Tuesday that Israel risked losing a package of unprecedented US guarantees if they rejected his Gaza pullout plan.

Locked in a political crisis threatening to bring down his government, Sharon raised the stakes by suggesting commitments he received from US President George W. Bush in April that could widen Israel's borders are now in danger.

"Our agreement with the United States speaks of an entire series of steps that Israel has to take and US guarantees of supreme importance," he told reporters. "It's all one package."

Sharon is facing a challenge from Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is leading resistance within their right-wing Likud party to a proposal that calls for evacuating all Gaza Strip settlements and four of 120 in the West Bank.

Justice Minister Yosef Lapid, a leading moderate, said he hoped to avert the collapse of the ruling coalition by brokering a compromise between Sharon and hardliners who see removal of settlements as a reward for what they term Palestinian "terror".

Sharon, who postponed a cabinet vote last Sunday to avoid almost certain defeat, received a boost from a new opinion poll showing solid public support for his Gaza pullout plan even though Likud members rejected it in a May 2 referendum.

The survey in the Maariv daily showed 54 per cent of Israelis who normally vote for the Likud back Sharon's plan while 31 per cent support Netanyahu, who appears willing to part with few of Gaza's 21 settlements. Among the general public, Sharon's plan polled 55 per cent support to his rival's 32 per cent.

Sharon has vowed to push through his plan, even if it means dismissing ministers who oppose it. His political weakness has also fuelled talk about early elections.

Vice Premier Ehud Olmert, a Sharon ally, voiced hope that the cabinet would be ready to reach a decision by next Sunday.

A Sharon confidant said the prime minister had rejected a Lapid proposal that the cabinet vote on removing just three Jewish settlements in Gaza and "take note" of the original plan.

Sharon said he had backing for a Gaza pullout from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and pledged to send Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom to Cairo on Thursday to discuss how Egypt could help secure Gaza from arms smuggling and takeover by militants.

Israeli commentators said the trip was also aimed at persuading Shalom, seen as the key swing vote that could give Sharon a cabinet majority, to support the Gaza plan.

But the Foreign Ministry said Shalom's trip had been put off until Monday -- a day after the next crucial cabinet meeting -- sparing him from having to promote a plan he has so far opposed.

In Cairo, an Egyptian official source said Egypt requested the postponement because Mubarak had sprained his ankle.

Sharon's chief of staff, Dov Weisglass, flew to Washington to assure the White House he was set on passing the Gaza plan.

At talks with Sharon in April, Bush not only approved the proposal but also said Israel should be allowed to keep some occupied West Bank land and prevent the return of Palestinian refugees, commitments that angered Palestinians.

- REUTERS