Gaza pull-out on track as Sharon wins vote

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon won a key vote yesterday over a state budget he must push through parliament by month’s end or face a snap election that would threaten his plan to pull out of Gaza.

Parliament’s Finance Committee voted 10-9 in favour of the 2005 budget, sending the package to the full legislature where Sharon faces a tough battle for final approval next week against ultra-nationalists opposed to ceding an inch of occupied land.

Under law, if the 264.5 billion shekel (€48 billion) budget is not passed by March 31, a general election must be held in late June, a month before the Gaza withdrawal is due to begin.