Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday threatened to dismiss Cabinet ministers who don't support his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, raising the stakes in a showdown that could break up the government, participants in the meeting said.
Sharon told the ministers during a heated Cabinet debate that he is determined to get his plan approved even if he has to "change the make-up of the government or take unprecedented political steps," one of those present said on condition of anonymity.
A Cabinet vote on the plan was not expected before next week.
The proposal has bitterly divided Sharon's 23-member Cabinet, with 11 ministers having spoken in favor of a Gaza withdrawal and 12 against. Israeli media said two ministers from the hard-line National Union party could be the first to go, which would give Sharon the majority he needs.
The debate came hours after an Israeli missile strike killed a senior Hamas commander and two other Palestinians in Gaza. The Israeli military has stepped up a crackdown on Palestinian militants ahead of a possible withdrawal, to avoid any appearance that it is fleeing under fire.
Sharon's Likud Party rejected his Gaza pullout plan in a referendum on May 2, but the prime minister has pledged to push forward.
After failing to reach a compromise with hard-line critics in his Cabinet last week, Sharon decided to present a plan with only minor changes to his government yesterday.
The plan calls for a complete withdrawal from Gaza and uprooting four West Bank settlements in four stages.
Polls indicate a solid majority of Israelis support the plan.
Some 7,500 Jewish settlers live amid 1.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Sharon has said withdrawing from the area would boost Israel's security and help maintain its hold on West Bank settlements.
Israeli media yesterday identified two National Union ministers -- Transportation Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Tourism Minister Benny Elon -- as the most likely to be fired. Dismissing the pair would give Sharon a one-vote majority in his government.
In a veiled threat against Lieberman, Sharon condemned recent comments made by the minister last week about Arab citizens of Israel.
In a newspaper interview last week, Lieberman called for Israel to "evacuate from the country 90 percent of Israeli Arabs."
Sharon said at the beginning of yesterday's Cabinet meeting that this was not the position of the government and that he "condemns" the comments.
Effie Eitam, head of the pro-settler National Religious Party (NRP), hinted that his party might quit the coalition over the crisis.
"The NRP will not remain in a government that fires ministers because they think differently to pave the way to evacuate settlements," Eitam said.
The pullout plan has also led to public clashes between Sharon and his longtime rival -- Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- who initially said he was open to a withdrawal from a few Gaza settlements, but has since changed his mind.
Sharon accused unnamed ministers on Saturday -- in what appeared to be a direct jibe at Netanyahu -- of "extortion" and seeking to advance their own political goals at the expense of the government. Netanyahu aides accused Sharon of distorting the argument.
At yesterday's Cabinet meeting, Sharon again appeared to take jabs at Netanyahu. He began by noting Netanyahu's success at reviving Israel's economy -- which is just coming out of several years of recession -- saying "there is no healthy economy without a hopeful future."
"I want to warn those friends among us who are trying to exploit this moment of crisis in order to advance a personal plan," Sharon was quoted as saying by an official in the meeting.
In Gaza, meanwhile, Wael Nassar, 38, a top Hamas commander, was killed early yesterday in an Israeli air strike, along with his assistant, Mohammed Sarsour, 31, and a bystander.
The two Hamas leaders were on a motorcycle when it exploded witnesses said.
The Israeli military said its air force carried out the strike, aimed at "two senior Hamas commanders who were responsible for many attacks against Israelis, including suicide bombings, and were planning further attacks."
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