Sharon: Accept pullout plan

Sharon didn't say he would resign if he loses.
JERUSALEM (AP) -- A beleaguered Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned Likud Party members that they may vote themselves out of power if they reject his Gaza pullout plan, as new polls showed his gamble to seek their approval for the proposal may backfire.
Sharon stopped short of saying he will resign if he loses, but said Thursday he considered the referendum a vote of confidence in him. He portrayed his opponents in Likud as extremists who used "lies, obscene language and deceitful propaganda" in their campaign against his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.
Polls showed a dramatic reversal among the 193,000 eligible Likud voters just before a referendum on the plan set for Sunday. In recent weeks, supporters had maintained an edge of several percentage points, but polls published Thursday and today indicated a clear advantage for the opponents.
"We are worried," Sharon adviser Lior Horev told Army Radio today.
Vote on surrendering land
The referendum will be the first-ever vote in Israel on whether to give up land captured in the 1967 Mideast War, an issue that has divided the nation for years. Under the plan, Sharon would withdraw troops and 7,500 settlers in the Gaza Strip and evacuate four small settlements in the West Bank.
Palestinians suspect Sharon is giving up Gaza to tighten his hold on much of the West Bank. Critics in Israel believe he proposed the plan in part to deflect attention from two corruption probes against him.
Even so, the withdrawal proposal is a drastic departure from Sharon's former views. During decades as the foremost champion of settlement expansion, he often placed new Israeli enclaves where they would most effectively break up the contiguity of Palestinian areas.
In recent weeks, Sharon has increasingly attacked his former core constituents. On Thursday, he told the Maariv daily that the settlers represent a minority in Israel and must not be allowed to impose their will on the country.
A "no" vote is a vote against the prime minister, he told Israel Radio. "You can't be for me, but be against my plan," he said. Painting a gloomy picture, he said a defeat of his plan would sour relations with the United States -- which backed the idea -- and deal a serious blow to the Israeli economy.
Polls
The latest polls indicated Likud members were not persuaded by those arguments. For example, a survey in the Yediot Ahronot daily today said 47 percent of Likud members would vote against the plan, compared to 40.5 percent in favor. Just two weeks ago, a similar poll by the same company, Dahaf, found 54 percent in favor and 32 against. Today's poll questioned 804 respondents and gave no margin of error.
It remains unclear whether Sharon will take the plan to his Cabinet and parliament for approval if he loses the referendum.
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