Ministers spurn Sharon on Gaza pull-out plan

THREE key ministers have spurned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s appeal to help shore up sagging support for his Gaza pull-out plan in a crucial party referendum, political sources said yesterday.

In a slap in the face to Mr Sharon, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Education Minister Limor Livnat, heavyweights in the right-wing Likud, refused to campaign for the plan, which they have only reluctantly backed.

A confidant predicted that Mr Sharon, struggling to halt erosion in support for his unilateral "disengagement" proposal ahead of next Sunday's Likud referendum, would exact political revenge against those who turned him down.

Polls indicate approval of Mr Sharon's plan, which calls for uprooting all Jewish settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank, is far from guaranteed by the traditionally pro-settler Likud. A survey Friday showed 49% of the party's 200,000 members in favour and 39.5% against.

Defeat in his own party would be a major blow to Mr Sharon. But he has already signalled he will present the plan to parliament where his chances of success are greater even if he loses. Mr Sharon says a Gaza withdrawal will improve Israel's security after three-and-a-half years of fighting with Palestinians. But many in the Liked oppose ceding any land captured in the 1967 war and have branded the proposed pull-out a "reward for terror".

Palestinians see Mr Sharon's plan as a ruse to annex large swathes of West Bank territory they want for a state. In response to Mr Sharon's plea, Mr Netanyahu, his strongest rival, was quoted as telling him on Sunday: "I have done more than enough."

Mr Netanyahu, considered more hawkish than Mr Sharon, is seen as his likely successor if the prime minister is toppled by brewing corruption scandals.