Despite rebuke, Sharon presses for withdrawal

The evacuation of Gaza settlements is to begin next summer.
JERUSALEM (AP) -- The Israeli parliament gave a symbolic slap to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, voting against a statement defending his Gaza pullout plan, but he survived two no-confidence motions and pledged to bring the withdrawal itself to a vote in two weeks.
The maneuvering came Monday at the opening of the winter session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, with Sharon heading a government that lost its majority over the Gaza pullout and is vulnerable to being toppled.
Sharon told the noisy parliament that he would present the pullout plan for approval Oct. 25, and then he would bring a bill for compensating the 8,500 settlers to be evacuated.
The evacuation is to begin in summer 2005 and last about 12 weeks, according to a government timetable, but Sharon's government might not survive that long.
'It is essential'
Over the heckling of hardline lawmakers who reject the concept of removing any Jewish settlements, Sharon declared that dismantling all 21 settlements in Gaza and four small ones in the West Bank is necessary to return the diplomatic initiative to Israel.
"It is essential for us to see that our friends, especially the United States, stand by us," Sharon said, warning that a continued stalemate would work against Israel.
He said Israel accepts the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, but the Palestinians have scuttled it by failing to stop militants from attacking Israelis and refusing to reform their administration. Palestinians charge that Israeli occupation and military operations are perpetuating the violence.
He promised the parliament "constant supervision" over the implementation of the pullout plan, and left open the door to changing it or backing away from it if the security situation deteriorates.
"We will reserve the right to determine the state of security and adapt the plan to the reality, with the main priority of defending ourselves and preventing terror," he said.
History
After decades of building and expanding Jewish settlements, Sharon suddenly announced last December that he favored pulling all Jewish settlers out of Gaza.
He explained that leaving 8,200 settlers in Gaza among 1.3 million Palestinians was untenable, and evacuating settlements there would help Israel hold on to main settlement blocs in the West Bank.
While Palestinians call the plan a land grab aimed at preventing them from establishing a state, Sharon's own backers fear that once the settlements start coming down, the process will not end until all of them are gone -- exactly as the Palestinians demand.
The deep ideological disagreements over the "unilateral disengagement" plan are expected to dominate the new parliamentary session, and some lawmakers said it was unlikely Sharon's government would complete its term, due to expire in November 2006.
In the first meeting of the winter session on Monday, two no-confidence motions were already on the table. Both were voted down by wide margins.
The moment of truth could arrive early next year, when the state budget comes up for consideration. If a government fails to pass a budget by the end of March, it must resign.
Though the Gaza plan is the highest-profile bone of contention, domestic issues like unemployment, welfare and taxes, reflected in the budget, are just as contentious, and Sharon may not be able to maneuver a majority in favor of his government's spending policies.
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