Polls published yesterday indicated that Israel's ruling Likud Party will reject Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposal to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements. Previous surveys had given the prime minister a narrow lead.
The referendum among 200,000 Likud members is set for Sunday.
Sharon said in an interview yesterday that he considers the referendum a personal vote of confidence, but stopped short of saying he would resign.
PHOTO: EPA
Also yesterday, a remote-controlled bomb went off in the house of the Gaza police chief, Ghazi Jabali, destroying the ground floor. Jabali had left a few minutes earlier, and no one was hurt. Residents found a 25m wire leading from the scene, attached to a switch.
The blast was apparently the result of internal Palestinian rivalries, which have turned violent in recent months. In February, a policeman was killed and 10 were wounded in a shootout at Jabali's Gaza office, attributed to a clash with backers of rival Gaza leader Mohammed Dahlan.
Two polls published yesterday in Israeli newspapers indicated a shift of opinion among Likud voters against the plan.
A survey in the Maariv daily indicated that 45 percent of party members oppose it, with 42 percent in support. Thirteen percent said they were undecided. The poll was taken among 470 Likud members and has a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.
A poll by the Dahaf company in the Yediot Ahronot daily showed 47 percent are against the plan, with just 39 percent in favor. Fourteen percent were undecided. The poll was conducted among 583 Likud members, and no margin of error was given.
Support for the withdrawal dropped from 54 percent two weeks ago to 49 percent last week, in polls conducted by the Dahaf company.
Sharon warned Likud voters that a "no" vote would have dire consequences, suggesting it could force the party out of power, but stopping short of saying he would resign in case of defeat. "You can't be for me, but be against my plan," Sharon told Israel Radio.
Sharon was to meet with advisers later yesterday. On Wednesday, he called Likud officials and sent allies to whip up support.
A pro-Sharon rally led by Vice Premier Ehud Olmert was interrupted Wednesday by residents of the Jewish settlement of Homesh in the West Bank. A settler shouted: "We will not be quiet. They are massacring us and murdering us."
Opponents have been active for weeks, demonstrating and plastering city walls around Israel with posters saying a pullout would be "a victory for terror."
Sharon had originally promised to honor the referendum, but backed down last week, with advisers saying he will present his plan to the Cabinet and parliament regardless of the referendum results.
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