Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon appeared determined on Thursday to plough on with his Gaza pull-out plan after his party shot down his ambition to bring the opposition Labour party into a new coalition.
”The prime minister will pursue the application of his plan with the same timetable for the withdrawal from Gaza, the contacts with the Egyptians will continue, as will the construction of the security barrier [in the West Bank],” a senior official within in his office said on condition of anonymity.
Sharon suffered a stunning blow to his pull-out plan late on Wednesday when his right-wing Likud party’s convention voted against Labour joining a new broad-based coalition by 843 votes to 612.
An alternative motion filed by Sharon’s camp at the convention in Tel Aviv — which would have authorised him to negotiate with ”any Zionist party” — was defeated by just 19 votes.
The premier needs to bring Labour into the government to achieve a parliamentary majority for his so-called disengagement plan, which would see all Jewish settlers and Israeli troops withdrawn from Gaza by the end of next year.
”The prime minister will also work to put together a stable majority to continue down this road,” the official said, who refused to say whether negotiations with Labour will resume after Wednesday’s setback.
Sharon won’t be bound
Sharon said before the late-night result that he will not be bound by the outcome and many observers believe that despite threats to call early elections, he will push on with coalition talks with Labour.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who is likely to lose his job to Labour leader Shimon Peres if it enters the government, said that the premier has no need to look to Labour.
”The prime minister has a majority for his plans, including the disengagement plan,” said Shalom.
”He has a coalition for this matter as well as for the Budget. So this government, which by the way, has never lost a Knesset vote to this day, can continue. He can do this until the date set by law for elections in November 2006.”
While the current Cabinet did approve the disengagement plan in early June, the move triggered the departure of three ultra-nationalist Cabinet members, which robbed Sharon of his parliamentary majority.
The premier has only just scraped through a number of no-confidence motions with the help of Labour and few observers believe that he can continue this way, especially as Likud hardliners are becoming increasingly emboldened in their opposition.
How Sharon can broaden coalition
Likud deputy and Sharon loyalist Roni Baron predicted that the prime minister will now approach the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties, and not Labour, to broaden the coalition.
But he told army radio that Sharon can still reach an impasse that can only be overcome by early elections.
”The prime minister cannot work without a party. The prime minister needs the party by his side, he needs the party’s support.”
Labour leader Peres was due to consult later in the day with senior party officials who have until now been negotiating with Sharon’s team about joining the coalition.
Some of his deputies are calling for an end to talks and are pushing for early elections.
”I want to call on Shimon Peres and Tommy Lapid [leader of the secular Shinui party] to set a date for elections, to meet immediately, and we will promise to get out of Gaza right away,” said chief negotiator Dalia Itzik.
But another Labour MP, Haim Ramon, said that the party should continue looking to work with Sharon.
”Let’s say the prime minister says that with all due respect to the Likud convention, as he said yesterday, he takes responsibility for the people and wants to continue the disengagement plan and approaches us and wants to cooperate with us. So we will tell him no?” — Sapa-AFP