- Title: VARIOUS: ISRAELIS VOTE ON LIKUD PARTY PLAN TO WITHDRAW FROM GAZA
- Date: 2nd May 2004
- Summary: (W4)SDEROT, ISRAEL (MAY 2, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. VARIOUS PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON AT POLLING STATION, CASTING VOTE AND PLACING IT IN BALLOT BOX 0.41 2. SLV SHARON LEAVING POLLING STATION 0.47 3. SOUNDITE (Hebrew) SHARON SAYING: "Today's vote is the most important. There is no doubt that accepting my plan will mean that there is less terror - it's clear that there will be less terrorism and the war on terrorism will be much stronger and more serious and this will cause the economy to improve. I think that it will cause an economic boom in israel. It (the Disengagement plan) will aid education, it will aid industry and it will aid our relationship with the USA which is the most important important ingredient and will put Israel in good stead." 1.28 (W4)NEVE DKALIM, GAZA STRIP (MAY 2, 2004) (REUTERS) 4. SIGN READING WELCOME TO GUSH KATIF 1.33 5. WIDE OF SECURITY VEHICLE OUTSIDE SETTLEMENT ENTRANCE 1.39 6. WIDE OF ENTRANCE / ROADBLOCK 1.45 7. VARIOUS OF SETTLERS VOTING ON DISENGAGEMENT PLAN 2.23 8. WIDE OF SETTLERS WORKING IN OFFICE 2.28 9. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) SETTLER SAYING: "I think it will win because we have a fight and the other side manipulated things, so you know we believe we are religious people and my family is here for 100 years and I cannot see this place ruined." 2.48 10. SLV WOMAN SETTLER WATERING PLANTS IN GARDEN 3.00 11. SCU SOUNDBITE (English) WOMAN SAYING: "If the vote today is for the plan we will be very disappointed, there is no question about it but we still believe that there is a long way to go. Many things can happen, you know. It is all open and it is not in our hands anyway. Sharon somehow seems to think that it is his land to give away when he wants, only we believe that that land belongs to God and He'll decide who it belongs to." 3.20 12. WIDE OF SQUARE OF SETTLEMENT WITH ISRAELI FLAGS 3.28 (W3)JERUSALEM (MAY 2, 2004) (REUTERS) 13. SLV POLITICANS INCLUDING UZI LANDAU TALKING 3.32 14. SCU (SOUNDBITE)(English) MINISTER WITHOUT PORTFOLIO UZI LANDAU, A LEADING LIKUD OPPOSITION FIGURE SPEAKING ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE PLAN SAYING: "The prospects are good. But until all of that is finished, you really can't rely on victory. It's highly important for us to stop this disengagement plan because it is going to promote terror." 3.49 (U2)JERUSALEM (MAY 2, 2004) (REUTERS) 15. WIDE /PAN OF INTERIORS POLLING STATION 4.04 16. SLV OF VOTER VOTING 4.21 17. VARIOUS OF BANNERS PROTESTING AGAINST ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON'S DISENGAGEMENT PLAN 4.32 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 17th May 2004 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SDEROT, ISRAEL/JERUSALEM/NEVE DKALIM, GAZA STRIP
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Reuters ID: LVAA8065QLRWAEROTS48BVRWQICB
- Story Text: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon casts vote in
Likud Party poll on his plan to withdraw from Gaza, but
many settlers there oppose the plan.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon cast his vote on
Saturday (May 2) in a Likud Party poll on his plan to
withdraw from the Gaza Strip and small parts of the West
Bank.
Sharon said adoption of his plan would lead to a
decline in terrorist acts And an economic boom in Israel.
"There is no doubt that accepting my plan will mean that
there is less terror - it's clear that there will be less
terrorism and the war on terrorism will be much stronger
and more serious and this will cause the economy to
improve. I think that it will cause an economic boom in
Israel. It (the Disengagement plan) will aid education, it
will aid industry and it will aid our relationship with the
USA which is the most important important ingredient and
will put Israel in good stead",Sharon said.
Likud party members went to polling stations to vote on
the controversial U.S.-backed Gaza pullout plan on Sunday
morning.
Polling stations opened at 0800 (0600GMT) for 193,000
Likud members can cast votes until 2200 (1900GMT). Results
were expected by midnight local time.
Opinion polls have shown a majority against the plan
despite attempts by Sharon to rally support by warning that
voting down the proposal could jeopardise Israel's vital
ties with the United States, weaken the party's grip on
power and lead to new elections.
Jewish settlers in Gaza, slated to be evacuated if
Sharon's disengagement plan is carried out, voted against
pullout plan.
One woman said "My family is here for 100 years and I
cannot see this place ruined."
Another woman said: "If the vote today is for the plan
we will be very disappointed, there is no question about it
but we still believe that there is a long way to go. Many
things can happen, you know. It is all open and it is not
in our hands anyway. Sharon somehow seems to think that it
is his land to give away when he wants, only we believe
that that land belongs to God and He'll decide who it
belongs to."
Minister without Portfolio Uzi Landau, a leading Likud
opposition figure, said the campaign opposing the plan had
a good chance in the vote. "It's highly important for us to
stop this disengagement plan because it is going to promote
terror", he said.
Under the terms of the plan Israel would withdraw from
21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank,
with the stated aim of making the country easier to defend
and preventing an internationally imposed solution to end
the conflict with the Palestinians.
Israel would evacuate 7,500 Jewish settlers who live in
Gaza amidst 1.3 million Palestinians. Several hundred
settlers in the northern West Bank would go. The West Bank
is home to about 230,000 settlers and over two million
Palestinians.
The plan says Israel intends to hold on to some West
Bank areas under any final peace treaty.
Palestinians say the barrier is a land grab for it
loops deep into territory they seek for their independent
state but which contains larger clusters of settlements
Sharon vows never to yield under any future peace deal.
The pullout would be completed by the end of 2005.
The referendum of right-wing Likud's 193,000 members
was not binding and Sharon's aides said that even if his
plan was rejected he would present it to his cabinet and to
parliament.
But a "no" decision would deter sceptical Likud
ministers and parliamentarians from backing the plan. A
"yes" could also be problematic, risking a schism in Likud,
defection of
pro-settler nationalist coalition partners and early
elections.
Nationwide opinion polls favour Sharon's initiative,
showing a majority of Israelis convinced tiny Gaza is a
violence-ridden liability they should get rid of. Sharon
has considered a national referendum to push his plan
through.
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