Likud votes against Palestinian state

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s right-wing Likud party has voted to reject the creation of a Palestinian state - a major defeat for Sharon.

The vote followed the withdrawal of some Israeli reservists pulled back from the Gaza Strip after the government said it had postponed an expected offensive in the Palestinian territory.

In Bethlehem, nearly 1,000 people attended the first Sunday services in the Church of the Nativity since the end of a five-week standoff there.

Sharon had strongly opposed the resolution against an eventual Palestinian state and had tried to prevent the vote, but his efforts were rejected and the Likud Central Committee overwhelmingly approved the proposal by a show of hands.

Although the party body does not have the power to remove Sharon from office, the vote showed his political weakness in his own camp could limit his effectiveness and provided an ominous sign for his future leadership of the party ahead of the next election, planned for November 2003.

Behind the confrontation with Sharon was ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu, who has announced his plans to challenge for the party leadership, hoping to be elected prime minister again in place of Sharon.

Only a handful of delegates voted against the Netanyahu-backed resolution, which read: ‘‘No Palestinian state will be created west of the Jordan (River),’’ referring to the area including the West Bank, Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Opposition to a Palestinian state has been the traditional position of the Likud, but Sharon has said that under stringent conditions, he would agree to creation of such a state, at one point calling it ‘‘inevitable’’.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said the vote ‘‘unmasked many things’’.

He said: ‘‘This just shows that the war being waged by Israel against the Palestinians is not a war against what they call terror, it’s really their war to maintain the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.’’ He said the vote was ‘‘a real slap in the face’’ for US president George Bush, who has spoken in favour of setting up a Palestinian state.

Instead of the measure opposing a Palestinian state, Sharon asked the convention to approve a resolution backing his government in its efforts for peace and security. In a secret ballot, delegates voted against Sharon’s proposal by a margin of 59 to 41%, a stinging defeat for Sharon.

Looking defiant but uncomfortable, Sharon took the podium and made a brief statement after losing the vote on his resolution. He said he would honour the decisions of his party’s central committee, but added: ‘‘I will continue to lead the state of Israel and the people of Israel according to the same ideas that led me always - security for the state of Israel and its citizens and our desire for real peace.’’

Netanyahu said the vote showed how the Likud party activists viewed peacemaking. ‘‘In the midst of a terror campaign run by (Palestinian leader Yasser) Arafat, they don’t want to envision a terrorist state which would threaten the destruction of Israel,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, Arafat prepared to visit Jenin, Bethlehem and Nablus today - his first trip outside Ramallah since December, when Israel barred his freedom of movement.

Israel said it had allowed Arafat to make the trip in a Jordanian helicopter.

All three cities were flashpoints of deadly violence between Israeli troops and Palestinians gunmen during the last weeks as Israel launched operation Defensive Shield, to root out suspected terrorists from the West Bank.

But as of Saturday, all Israeli troops were out of Palestinian-run areas and some reservists called up for a retaliatory strike against militants in Gaza, were sent home yesterday.

When asked about the postponement of the incursion into Gaza, Israeli defence minister Binyamin

Ben-Eliezer said Israel was ‘‘willing to give a chance (to peace negotiations) and wait’’.

‘‘We are ready to give any chance to the peace process,’’ Ben-Eliezer told CNN’s Late Edition. But he emphasised that Israel would not hesitate to respond in the wake of renewed attacks or violence.

In Bethlehem, worshippers returned to the Church of the Nativity for the first services since the end of a five-week siege of the church. The smell of incense filled the air as different Christian denominations held Sunday prayer services.

‘‘We are happy to be here, to attend the services after a long absence,’’ said Alberta Katan, 65, as she lit candles near the grotto believed to mark the birthplace of Jesus. ‘‘When I entered, I felt the joy in the eyes of the people praying again in the basilica.’’

At the Vatican, Pope John Paul II described his great relief over the end of the siege and the resumption of religious services and urged mutual trust between Israelis and Palestinians.