ISRAEL Payments to settlers get 1st OK

The measure must pass two more votes before becoming law.
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel's parliament gave preliminary approval today to compensation payments for Jews living in Gaza and four West Bank settlements, clearing a major hurdle in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to evacuate 25 settlements next year.
By a 64-44 vote with 9 abstentions, the Knesset passed the first of three votes on compensation packages giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to the 8,800 settlers in Gaza and parts of the West Bank.
Sharon's "disengagement plan" has been strongly supported by the United States, Europe and most Israelis, but it has divided Sharon's own Likud party and weakened his domestic political position.
Two more votes needed
After the vote, the compensation bill goes to a committee for fine-tuning, and must pass two more votes before becoming law. The government plans to complete the legislation by Dec. 31.
The withdrawal, expected next summer, has cost Sharon his majority in parliament. Jewish settlers, a traditional constituency of Sharon, are furious with their former patron. Rabbis have issued rulings charging that he is violating Jewish law, and officials have warned of the threat of violence, civil war and assassinations.
Stepping up their opposition, the settlers' council ran a full-page ad today in the Maariv daily criticizing the bill. "Warning: Dictatorship," it said, adding the slogan. "Sharon is tearing apart the nation."
Full withdrawal
Sharon's plan calls for a full withdrawal from Gaza, where 8,200 Jewish settlers live amid 1.3 million Palestinians, and a pullout from four West Bank settlements. He says the moves will improve the country's security and help it hold on to large chunks of West Bank settlements.
Sharon has refused to coordinate the pullout with the Palestinians, saying Yasser Arafat's administration is tainted by terrorism.
Arafat was evacuated to a French hospital last week for an unidentified ailment, raising speculation that he may not return to power.
Sharon has said he will continue with his plan regardless of Arafat's condition, but held out the possibility of resuming peace talks if a moderate Palestinian leadership emerges.
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