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Pres. George W. Bush said world leaders owed PM Ariel Sharon a "thank you" for his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, as it would give a chance for the establishment of a peaceful Palestinian state.
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| By Ellis Shuman April 22, 2004 |
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U.S. President George W. Bush said world leaders owed Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a "thank you" for his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, as it would give a chance for the establishment of a peaceful Palestinian state. Despite Bush's statements, and the backing of the entire senior Likud leadership, including ministers Netanyahu, Livnat and Shalom, the gap between Likud supporters of disengagement and its opponents is narrowing.
"Ariel Sharon came to America, and he stood up with me and he said, 'We are pulling out of Gaza and parts of the West Bank,'" Bush told a newspaper conference in Washington yesterday. In "my judgment, the whole world should have said, 'Thank you, Ariel. Now we have a chance to begin the construction of a peaceful Palestinian state,"' Bush added. Instead, he said, "there was kind of silence, wasn't there?"
"The Palestinian leadership has failed the people year after year after year," Bush said. "And now is the time for the world to step up and take advantage of this opportunity and help to build a Palestinian state that's committed to the principles of individual rights, and rule of law, and fairness, and justice so the Palestinian people have a chance to grow a peaceful state, and so that Israel has a partner in peace -- not a launching pad of terrorist attacks on her border," he said.
Sharon defends disengagement plan
In a rare move, Sharon took to the podium today in the Knesset to field questions from opposition MKs about the government's diplomatic policies. Sharon's appearance in the Knesset comes after the opposition collected the necessary number of signatures to force a special Knesset session. Any government minister can respond to the plenum, but faced with slipping support for his Gaza withdrawal proposal, Sharon decided that he himself would respond to the Knesset members, Haaretz reported.
Sharon defended his disengagement plan in his Knesset address. "The support we gained from the United States is an unprecedented achievement in the history of the state of Israel," he said. "The Palestinians view it as the biggest blow dealt to them since the War of Independence." Sharon said, "Anyone who wants to preserve the large settlement blocs, anyone who wants American support for our war on terrorism, anyone who wants for Israel to initiate and not be dragged, to lead and not be led, must support the disengagement plan."
Sharon told the Knesset that he had a "moral obligation" to abide by the Likud Party referendum on the disengagement plan, but added that the ultimate authority rests with the government and the Knesset. Media analysts were quick to state that Sharon planned to "bypass" the upcoming Likud Party referendum. Sharon's spokesman said the prime minister was misunderstood, Maariv reported.
Gap between supporters and opponents narrowing
Meanwhile, the latest public opinion polls show that Sharon's right-wing opposition is gaining ground despite the fact that the Likud's entire senior leadership (Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Education Minister Limor Livnat, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz), have lined up to support the disengagement plan in the wake of Sharon's triumphant trip to Washington.
According to a poll conducted by the Dialog agency for Haaretz, 44% of the Likud Party's members said they will vote yes for Sharon's plan in the party's May 2 referendum, while 40% said they will vote no. A poll commissioned for Channel One television's "Politika" current affairs program said the gap between supporters and opponents had narrowed to 9%, down from the 15% advantage Sharon had last week.
Media analysts have stated that the real question is how many of the Likud's 190,000 registered voters will cast their ballots in the party referendum. The larger the turnout, the analysts said, the better the chances of the disengagement plan being approved. According to the Haaretz poll, 68% of those surveyed said it was certain they would vote in the referendum, and of this group, 47% said they would vote for the plan while 40% said they would vote against it.
Minister without portfolio Uzi Landau, who is leading the campaign against disengagement, said he was not surprised by the poll's results. "As the media hype of the Washington trip wears off, the members are coming to their senses," he said. "The Likud is us, not disengagement."
Sharon's supporters were not upset by the poll results, Maariv reported. "We hope that this makes every member realize that the vote is not in the bag, and that it is the solemn duty of every member to go and vote," said a campaign strategist, quoted by the newspaper.
Disengagement bus
Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been leading the campaign to drum up Likud support for disengagement. He began touring the country yesterday in a "disengagement bus," but despite having reserved seats for his fellow ministers, none of them showed up.
"The other ministers are busy working hard and some of them have to go abroad," Olmert said, in an apparent reference to Netanyahu. "But there's plenty of room on the bus and you never know, at any point a minister could get on. I have reserved places for each of them."
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