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Uprooting Jews

Despite victory, Gaza?s Jews still not safe


By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
May 03, 2004

Jewish residents of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip offered prayers of thanksgiving Monday morning after a majority of Likud members voted against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to uproot thousands of their fellow pioneers.

But they may be celebrating too soon.

Having failed to garner party support for his “disengagement” plan, Sharon will now formulate a new plan to rid Gaza and part of Samaria of their Jews, aides said.

Sources close the prime minister told Ynet that Sharon’s best option at this point is to formulate a watered-down version of his retreat plan that would be acceptable to a majority of Likud officials.

That plan would likely include, in its first stage, the evacuation of isolated Jewish communities, such as Netzarim in central Gaza.

Those loyal to the Likud’s central platform have vowed to act against Sharon if he does not honor the results of Sunday’s referendum.

Crushing defeat

Sharon’s plan to unilaterally uproot the Gaza Jewish community and remove four Samarian settlements was roundly defeated in Sunday’s internal Likud referendum.

The prime minister subjected his plan to a referendum in order to prove he had majority support for his intention to evacuate Jews from Gaza and Samaria.

The move backfired on him, with nearly 60 percent of those who voted rejecting the plan.

Ideology wins the day

The plan’s chief opponent within the Likud, Minister Uzi Landau, said after the referendum that the Likud had been successfully convinced not to abandon its core principles for the sake of political expediency.

The official Likud platform advocates close Jewish settlement of all of the Palestine Mandate, as per the 1921 San Remo Conference decision, which was reaffirmed by the UN in 1945.

It also rejects any plan that would establish a Palestinian Arab state west of the Jordan River.

Not so fast

Following the defeat of his plan, Sharon said in a radio broadcast that he was disappointed, but would respect the results. He denied reports that he may resign.

Aides close the prime minister said he would spend the next several days stabilizing his government, during which time he would consult with Likud ministers and other officials on how to move forward, Ynet reported.

They said the two primary options open to Sharon are to hold a national referendum on his disengagement plan, or to formulate a new plan in the framework of a new coalition.

A watered-down version of his retreat plan aimed at satisfying a majority of senior Likud officials seemed the most reasonable route for Sharon, his aides said.

That new plan would likely include the evacuation, at least in its first stage, of only isolated Jewish settlements, such as Netzarim in central Gaza.

In 2002, Sharon declared before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that he would never dismantle even a single settlement, including the isolated and besieged Netzarim.

“The fate of Netzarim is the fate of Tel Aviv,” Sharon told Israel’s lawmakers.

‘Unstoppable’

Sounding a more defiant note, Sharon’s chief deputy, Trade and Industry Minister Ehud Olmert told Israel Radio Monday that the outcome of Sunday’s referendum mattered little, since the disengagement plan is “unstoppable.”

“In the end there will be a disengagement in Gaza,” Olmert vowed.

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