Press sees Sharon plan as lesser evil

Israel's press reflects a wide range of views as Likud members vote on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to "disengage" from the Gaza Strip.

Commentators largely back the plan, but opinions differ on the implications of a possible No vote.

The second largest circulation Hebrew paper, Ma'ariv, carries contrasting articles by Mr Sharon and Likud minister Uzi Landau, who has led opposition to the plan.

The prime minister declares that his plan is "good for Israel, good for security and strengthens our relations with the US".

He adds: "Whoever rejects my plan is liable to inflict on Israel the worst political and economic crisis we have ever known and cause unforgivable damage to the Likud".

Rejection of the plan would immerse us all in rivers of blood Ari Shavit, Ha'aretz

Mr Landau believes it is a Yes vote that would damage the government, because right-wing parties would resign and leave Mr Sharon as "the spread in the sandwich" between Shinui leader Tommy Lapid and Labour's Shimon Peres.

He also says the ballot is not a vote of confidence in the prime minister, but "a matter of principle: whether to give Hamas a terror state".

Fear of worse

Press commentaries largely back a Yes vote, even if this stems less from enthusiasm for the plan than from fear of the alternative.

Writing in the left-of-centre Ha'aretz, Ari Shavit acknowledges that the Sharon plan is neither "flawless" nor "devoid of risk".

"However, it expresses the deepest will of the Israeli nation and represents the renewal of national hope," he explains.

Rejection, he believes, would "immerse us all in rivers of blood" and "hurl Israeli society into an unprecedented freefall".

Sharon will notch up a public triumph for having dared to put his 'separation plan' to the public Aluf Benn, Ha'aretz

Nahum Barnea makes similar points in the largest circulation paper, Yediot Aharonot.

"Sharon's disengagement initiative is full of defects, but it holds a certain promise - unlike the current situation," he says.

No crisis

He also warns that the plan is likely to go ahead even if it is rejected in the Likud ballot.

"Whoever votes against disengagement today will find it again in another guise, in another vote," he says.

A No vote "could injure Sharon's plan, but it is very doubtful it will bury it".

Back in Ha'aretz, another commentator agrees that a No vote would not be too damaging.

"Sharon will still notch up a public triumph for having dared to put his 'separation plan' to the public," Aluf Benn writes.

"Defeat will merely defer its implementation, which means a bitter standoff with the settlers can wait."

If Likud members torpedo Sharon's plan, it would be a national disaster from Israel's standpoint Yediot Aharonot

The right-of-centre Jerusalem Post urges both sides of Israel's political divide to see advantages in the plan.

"The Right should see that the package as a whole, despite the withdrawal, puts the Palestinians in a worse strategic position than they were in October 2000," it says.

"The Left should see that Israel is taking a further step towards creating a Palestinian state, while forcing the Palestinians to choose between continued fruitless warfare or getting their own house in sufficient order to lure Israel back to the negotiating table."

'National disaster'

Other commentators are less optimistic about the implications of a No vote.

In its editorial, the centrist Yediot Aharonot warns against the temptation to cheer the rejection of a plan closely linked to Ariel Sharon.

While "many in the Middle East and all over the world will breathe a sigh of relief" if Likud members "torpedo" his plan, this "would be a national disaster from Israel's standpoint", the paper warns.

In Ha'aretz, Doron Rosenblum worries that the plan is the last chance to stand up to the settlers.

Sharon's plan is a direct consequence of our psychological defeat at the hands of murderers Binyamin Ze'ev Begin, Yediot Aharonot

"If the settlers and their helpers are showing unusual aggression in their fight against Sharon's fuzzy intentions, which culminates tonight, it is because the principle has reached a crucial point," the article observes.

It recalls an image used by a settlers' leader, who likened successive Israeli governments to a prisoner rattling the handle of a cell door kept locked by the settlers, and warns:

"If the most cunning and bullying of prime ministers cannot force the key out of their hands, nobody will."

'Loyal pioneers'

Few commentators appear to support the opposite side of the argument, but one such is Binyamin Ze'ev Begin.

In Yediot Aharonot, he describes the Sharon plan as "a direct consequence of our psychological defeat at the hands of murderers".

"These loyal pioneers," he says of the settlers, "face endless dangers and are ready to continue to defend us with devotion."

"We should not turn our backs on them. They deserve a loving embrace," he declares.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.