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Ariel Sharon warns of `tough decisions' for Israel

Palestinian carry the body of Khaled Abu Elbah, 15, during his funeral in Gaza yesterday. Abu Elbah died on Sunday from injuries sustained last week when he was wounded during clashes with Israeli soldiers at Beit Lahiya town in the northern Gaza Strip, medical sources said. PHOTO: REUTERS

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday warned that "tough decisions" lie ahead after his Likud Party rejected his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

Speaking to Likud lawmakers, Sharon said he accepted the results of the party referendum, but hinted that he would press forward with the proposal. Likud voters rejected his plan by a 60 to 40 margin in Sunday's referendum.

"It seems to me that it is going to be a very interesting sitting, a sitting during which we shall have make some tough decisions in the party caucus and in the parliament which will impact on the futures of us all," he said.

He repeated a pledge made on Sunday to consult with Likud ministers and lawmakers, as well as other political parties, to discuss how to move forward.

"I want to emphasize that the people of Israel chose us to find the way to quiet, security and peace and to improve the economy of Israel," Sharon said. "I intend to do that. There is no other reason for us to be here in the Knesset."

Sharon did not say explicitly whether he would continue with his "unilateral disengagement" plan, which calls for a withdrawal from all 21 Gaza settlements and uprooting four settlements in the West Bank.

But allies suggested after Sunday's vote he would look for ways to get around the Likud's veto. The referendum was not legally binding.

Meanwhile, Israeli Vice Premier Ehud Olmert said Sharon's plan is "unstoppable" despite being resoundingly rejected by his own right-wing party.

Buoyed by Sunday's referendum defeat of Sharon's plan, Jewish settlers in Gaza poured concrete yesterday for a new neighborhood while ultra-nationalist Jews moved into an Arab district of Jerusalem.

But Sharon's allies said that while the referendum was a humiliating reverse, the prime minister would not retreat since his plan for "disengagement" from conflict with Palestinians was supported by most Israelis -- as shown in numerous polls.

The White House also reaffirmed its backing for the landmark plan as Sharon vowed not to resign.

"There is no doubt disengagement is inevitable and unstoppable," Olmert said of the blueprint to end Israel's 37-year-old occupation of Gaza while keeping parts of the larger West Bank.

"In the end it will happen because the alternative is more murder, terrorism and attacks without us having any wise answer for what 7,500 Jewish [settlers] are doing among 1.2 million Palestinians [in Gaza]," Olmert told Israel Radio.
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