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."
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
A clandestine US Navy special missions unit colloquially known as SEAL Team 6 has been training for missions to assist Taiwan’s defense against an attack by China, the Financial Times said in a report yesterday. The navy commando team famous for killing Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, has been conducting training to take part in a Taiwan conflict at its Dam Neck headquarters in Virginia Beach for more than one year, it said, citing sources familiar with the matter. “The secret training underlines the increased US focus on deterring China from attacking Taiwan, while stepping up preparations for such an event,”
RSS