Press ponders Sharon's Gaza plan

Israeli commentators are quick to reflect on the significance of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposal to hold a ballot of ruling Likud party members on a planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Several link the timing of the move to Mr Sharon's difficulties in the wake of the decision by Chief Prosecutor Edna Arbel to recommend charges against him over his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal involving a Greek tourism project.

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Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's decision to hold a vote among Likud members about his separation plan was born in sin. There were no counter-proposals, nor was there even an agenda. As far as Sharon is concerned, the move is a low risk option: all the surveys show that the separation initiative is strongly supported among the Likud membership. Should the initiative win support of a majority of Likud members, opposition to the plan among ministers will shrink measurably and Sharon will be able to carry out his plan to create a unity government with the Labour Party, so as to go ahead with the withdrawal plan from the Gaza Strip.

Commentator Yossi Verter in Ha'aretz

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From this moment on, Sharon's disengagement depends on 200,000 Likud members to whom two men have to be added: [Attorney General] Meni Mazuz and George W Bush. These are the levels that have to recommend and approve in this order: George Bush next week, Likud members in a few weeks' time and last the Attorney General. Ariel Sharon should not be envied during this time and certainly not Meni Mazuz. Big, difficult and fateful days lie ahead.

Commentator Ben Kaspit in Ma'ariv

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Commentators will say: Sharon believes that Likud members' inner feelings are similar to those of the general public in Israel and they, according to polls, would support in their masses the disengagement plan.

Editorial in Yediot Aharonot

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Sharon intends the referendum to be held in May, on the eve of the attorney general's decision on his affair. A victory in the referendum would create a public atmosphere that would make it even much more difficult for the attorney to indict him.

Commentator Nahum Barnea in Yediot Aharonot

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Today Sharon is not what he used to be. This is what the [state prosecutor] Edna Arbel in effect did to him. He could pass political plans with US support but the right not to give a damn has been taken away from him. In the choice between a rearguard battle in Likud's militant, partly corrupt centre, and a decision by some 200,000 members, Sharon preferred the members. The Likud centre is like a casino.

Commentator Nahum Barnea in Yediot Aharonot

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And what if Likud voters reject the plan at the ballot box? Even then the plan will be implemented, because once the US entered the picture and supported the plan, this is also a US plan. Then no Israeli leader would dare to stand in the White House's Oval Room and say: 'Excuse me, but my voters would not agree'.

Editorial in Yediot Aharonot

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True, every man, even a prime minister, is innocent as long as he hasn't been convicted. It is true that Sharon's resignation cannot be demanded in such a case. And it is true that even if he had invented the disengagement plan to shove aside the affairs for which he is being investigated, today most of the people support the implementation of the plan. Yet, because of those affairs, there is no confidence in the man himself, as polls show, and there is a bad feeling in going for big, decisive moves led by a prime minister surrounded by criminal suspicions. In its current state, Israel needs a prime minister with a clean head and cleaner hands.

Commentator Avraham Tirosh in Ma'ariv

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The more immediately relevant question about the current mess is how it will impact on the diplomatic process that Sharon has set in motion. He is to meet President George W Bush on April 14. Thanks to the meeting, he can broadcast to the nation that he is still in charge and steering the country towards where the polls show the citizens want to go - out of Gaza. And it is in the Bush administration's interest to get Sharon to sign off on the disengagement plan. For once these proposals are on the table. It will be difficult for anyone who comes after him to backtrack and say these proposals are no longer in play.

Commentator Herb Keinon in Jerusalem Post

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