Opponents of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan for a pullout from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank made last-ditch efforts yesterday to rally support for a vote that could halt the withdrawal.
The Israeli parliament was set to vote yesterday on calling a national referendum over the withdrawal plan, a ploy Sharon says is intended to delay or scuttle the evacuation.
But the parliament yesterday overwhelmingly rejected (72-39) Sharon's plan to withdraw, thwarting a maneuver by rightists opposed to ceding any occupied land.
Also yesterday, the military lifted a ban on Palestinians from entering Israel, imposed tomorrow for the Jewish holiday of Purim. Such closures are routine security measures.
Uzi Landau, the leader of a group of rebels within Sharon's own Likud Party, was meeting yesterday with the spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party in a bid to get the rabbi, Ovadia Yosef, to throw 11 party votes behind the referendum.
The proposed dismantling of all 21 Gaza settlements and four in the West Bank has splintered Sharon's Likud Party, a bastion of settlement backers taken by surprise by Sharon's sudden turnabout at the beginning of last year.
Sharon himself was the main sponsor of settlement construction before presenting his pullout plan, explaining it would help Israel hang on to parts of the West Bank.
That issue remained in the spotlight on Sunday. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas criticized Israel and indirectly the US over a restatement of US support for Israel's retaining main settlements in the West Bank in a final peace deal.
``Any talk of settlements that is not a discussion of stopping them is unacceptable,'' Abbas said. ``Here I'm talking about the discussions of annexing settlement blocs.'' The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank, with east Jerusalem as capital.
The issue resurfaced over the weekend with a leaked Foreign Ministry document that quoted US Ambassador Dan Kurtzer as saying the US did not support Israel's keeping West Bank settlements.
The document was leaked after Israel revived plans to expand the largest one, Maaleh Adumim, next to Jerusalem. Sharon told his Cabinet that while Washington backs Israel's holding on to settlement blocs, it still opposes construction in settlements.
The settlement issue has been a major sticking point in attempts to implement the stalled US-backed ``road map'' peace plan, which also has the support of the European Union, UN and Russia.
The initial stage requires Israel to halt all settlement construction and remove dozens of unauthorized outposts from the West Bank, while the Palestinians dismantle violent groups. Neither side has carried out those steps. With a truce holding for six weeks, there are hopes peace efforts can resume.
A ship that appears to be taking on the identity of a scrapped gas carrier exited the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, showing how strategies to get through the waterway are evolving as the Middle East war progresses. The vessel identifying as liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Jamal left the Strait on Friday morning, ship-tracking data show. However, the same tanker was also recorded as having beached at an Indian demolition yard in October last year, where it is being broken up, according to market participants and port agent’s reports. The ship claiming to be Jamal is likely a zombie vessel that
Japan is to downgrade its description of ties with China from “one of its most important” in an annual diplomatic report, according to a draft reviewed by Reuters, as relations with Beijing worsen. This year’s Diplomatic Bluebook, which Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government is expected to approve next month, would instead describe China as an important neighbor and the relationship as “strategic” and “mutually beneficial.” The draft cites a series of confrontations with Beijing over the past year, including export controls on rare earths, radar lock-ons targeting Japanese military aircraft and increased pressure around Taiwan. The shift in tone underscores a deterioration
LAW CONSTRAINTS: The US has been pressing allies to send warships to open the Strait, but Tokyo’s military actions are limited under its postwar pacifist constitution Japan could consider deploying its military for minesweeping in the Strait of Hormuz if a ceasefire is reached in the war on Iran, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi said yesterday. “If there were to be a complete ceasefire, hypothetically speaking, then things like minesweeping could come up,” Motegi said. “This is purely hypothetical, but if a ceasefire were established and naval mines were creating an obstacle, then I think that would be something to consider.” Japan’s military actions are limited under its postwar pacifist constitution, but 2015 security legislation allows Tokyo to use its Self-Defense Forces overseas if an attack,
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) yesterday faced a regional election battle in Rhineland-Palatinate, now held by the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD). Merz’s CDU has enjoyed a narrow poll lead over the SPD — their coalition partners at the national level — who have ruled the mid-sized state for 35 years. Polling third is the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which spells a greater threat to the two centrist parties in several state elections in September in the country’s ex-communist east. The picturesque state of Rhineland-Palatinate, bordering France, Belgium and Luxembourg and with a population of about 4 million,
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