Corruption probe 'will not deflect Sharon'

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon is determined to withdraw troops and settlers from much of the Gaza Strip, despite a mounting corruption probe that could drive him out of office, a close ally said today.

Sharon suffered his latest setback today when the Supreme Court ordered his son to hand over potentially incriminating documents related to a pair of corruption cases, including a bribery probe involving the premier.

The decision came a day after Israel’s chief prosecutor, Edna Arbel, recommended that Sharon and his son be indicted in the 1999 bribery case, in which a property developer allegedly paid the Sharon family hundreds of thousands of pounds in exchange for help in promoting a tourism project.

The final decision on whether to indict Sharon is up to Israel’s attorney general, who is expected to rule within weeks.

The mounting problems have prompted opposition calls for Sharon to step down. Today, opposition MP Yossi Sarid said he asked the prime minister during a closed-door parliamentary hearing to suspend himself while the investigation is pending.

Sarid quoted Sharon as telling him: “I am functioning as I should.”

The investigations also have weakened Sharon’s standing in his own Likud Party, throwing into doubt his plan to withdraw from most of the Gaza Strip and isolated West Bank settlements. Sharon has said he would go ahead if peace making with the Palestinian remains stalled.

Deputy prime minister Ehud Olmert, a close ally of the prime minister, said today that Sharon will not be deterred.

“I am convinced that disengagement plan will advance and in the end will be carried out. The prime minister is determined to do this,” Olmert said.

Sharon’s aides have declined to comment on the corruption probes. But privately, they say the prime minister has no plans to resign.

The prospect of an unprecedented indictment of an Israeli prime minister could have immediate political consequences – undermining Sharon’s plan to pull out of Gaza, or conversely, pushing him to speed up the pullout to ward off legal action.

Under Israeli legal precedent, a cabinet minister who is indicted must step aside. But Sharon advisers say that does not apply to prime ministers, promising a court fight over the issue if an indictment is handed down.

Even if Sharon survives an indictment, his government might not last. A coalition partner, the Shinui Party, has said it will leave the government if he is charged.

A collapse of the government would put the withdrawal plan in doubt. Sharon’s most likely successor, former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has shown little enthusiasm for pulling out of Gaza or the West Bank, areas captured in the 1967 Mideast war, with or without a peace deal.

In the meantime, Sharon faces fierce opposition to a Gaza pull back in his cabinet – where hard-line ministers opposed to territorial concessions have considerable sway – and has failed to win US guarantees that would make the plan more palatable to such critics.

Sharon is scheduled to travel to Washington next month for talks on the withdrawal.

There has been some speculation that the opposition Labour Party would join Sharon’s coalition if hard-liners bolt over a Gaza withdrawal.

However, Dalia Itzik, a senior Labour MP, said today that her party would not make a decision until the attorney general has decided whether to hand down an indictment.

Sharon’s legal troubles have also caused concerns on the Palestinian side.

“We view this as an internal Israeli matter, but we worry that the Israeli government may attempt to divert the attention of the Israeli public from this corruption scandal to more Palestinian assassinations, incursions and bloodshed,” said cabinet minister Saeb Erekat.