JERUSALEM: ISRAELI PRIEM MINISTER ARIEL SHARON VOWED TO PUT HIS GAZA WITHDRAWAL PLAN TO A PARLIAMENTARY VOTE

Record ID: 400791

  • Title: JERUSALEM: ISRAELI PRIEM MINISTER ARIEL SHARON VOWED TO PUT HIS GAZA WITHDRAWAL PLAN TO A PARLIAMENTARY VOTE
  • Date: 11th October 2004
  • Summary: (W6) JERUSALEM (OCTOBER 11, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. TV ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON WALKING TO ADDRESS KNESSET SESSION 0.21 2. MCU (Hebrew) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON SAYING: "The talks according to the road map will only resume once the Palestinian meets their obligations as I have laid out. But this this is not the issue we are about t
  • Embargoed: 26th October 2004 13:00
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  • Location: JERUSALEM
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Reuters ID: LVA819O6W00OMN8KH9SMAEH3EOLI
  • Story Text: Sharon vows parliament vote on Gaza plan on
    October 25.



    Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed on Monday
    (October 11) to put his Gaza withdrawal plan to a
    parliamentary vote on Oct. 25, despite persistent violence
    in the coastal strip and fierce opposition from Israel's
    far right.

    Addressing a new session of parliament marked by
    heckling by ultra-nationalists, Sharon made clear he would
    be undeterred in pushing ahead with his plan to uproot all
    Gaza settlements even though it could threaten the
    stability of his ruling coalition.

    Before his speech, Sharon had sought to mollify
    hardliners by overruling his army chief's recommendation to
    scale back a 12-day-old Gaza offensive and ordering troops
    to keep up pressure on militants behind rocket attacks on
    the Jewish state.

    Despite that, pro-settler opponents of his Gaza plan
    voiced anger at Sharon with loud interruptions. "We will
    not forgive, we will not forget," one lawmaker shouted from
    the benches.

    Sharon wants to evacuate all 21 Jewish settlements in
    the Gaza Strip and four of 120 enclaves in the West Bank by
    the end of next year under a strategy of "disengaging" from
    conflict with the Palestinians.

    "I plan to bring it to a vote in the Knesset
    (parliament) on October 25," Sharon said, pinning down a
    date that could pave the way for further cabinet votes on
    the plan's implementation.

    But it could also spur a far-right coalition partner to
    carry out its threat to bolt, forcing him to reshape his
    government or call early elections.

    Sharon said that following a parliamentary vote on the
    principles of "disengagement" he would present legislation
    detailing compensation for evacuated Jewish settlers in the
    first week of November.

    He also reaffirmed his commitment to a U.S.-backed
    peace "road map", which has been stalled by
    Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed, despite a senior aide's
    published comments last week effectively dismissing it.

    But in a bid to assuage far-right resentment, Sharon --
    once considered the settlers' champion but not reviled by
    them as a traitor -- said: "I feel their pain, which is
    real and deep."

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