Peres demands full West Bank pull-out from Sharon

ISRAEL’S opposition leader said his Labour Party will not join the Government unless Prime Minister Ariel Sharon agrees to negotiate a planned Gaza evacuation with the Palestinians and accompanies it with a large-scale West Bank withdrawal.

The demands by former Prime Minister Shimon Peres, which are unlikely to be met, could threaten Mr Sharon's efforts to shore up his fragile government or could be a bargaining tactic to gain more Cabinet ministries in a coalition agreement.

Mr Sharon had been widely expected to ask Labour to join his government after he sacked two hard-line ministers and a third resigned in recent weeks in a dispute over the Gaza withdrawal plan. That leaves him with only 59 supporters in the 120-member parliament.

Labour, which holds 21 seats, has provided Mr Sharon a "safety net", blocking no-confidence motions to bring down the Government, but neither Labour nor Mr Sharon's Likud Party has publicly committed itself to a national unity government.

Mr Peres said Mr Sharon must accept a wide-ranging withdrawal from the West Bank, which Israel conquered in the 1967 Six Day War.

"My vision ... is for a return to the 1967 borders with minor adjustments for security and Jewish settlements," Mr Peres said. He did not elaborate.

But Mr Sharon has promised to strengthen major West Bank settlements not evacuate them as part of his plan. That plan calls for a withdrawal from only four isolated enclaves in the West Bank.

Some 230,000 Israeli settlers live amid more than two million Palestinians in the West Bank. Palestinians are demanding a full withdrawal from all Gaza and the West Bank.

Mr Peres also said Mr Sharon must change the nature of his unilateral withdrawal plan by negotiating directly with Palestinian officials.

Mr Sharon wants a pull-out co-ordinated with Egypt, which borders Gaza, and the United States but without input from Palestinians.

A senior government official said that it was too early to respond to Mr Peres' conditions.