Sharon Fires Ministers Against Gaza Plan
JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Ariel Sharon fired two Cabinet members Friday, paving the way for his Gaza pullout plan at the risk of a political crisis that could doom his government.
Sharon sent a messenger to deliver dismissal notices to two ministers of the hard-line National Union Party, Avigdor Lieberman and Benny Elon, after they failed to answer a summons to his office. The dismissals would take effect in 48 hours, giving Sharon a slim majority ahead of Sunday’s expected Cabinet vote.
“According to the protocols of the law, I have decided to relieve you of your post, as is my right as prime minister,” the terse letters said.
Cabinet Secretary Yisrael Maimon informed other government ministers that the two had been fired, a senior official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Lieberman told Israel Radio he was “proud to be fired by the Prime Minister” because he was standing up for his beliefs.
The move is Sharon’s latest break with the far right. Over the last year he has gone from being a driving force behind the Jewish settlement movement to staking his credibility on his ability to remove all the settlements from the Gaza Strip.
Tsipi Livni, a minister working on a compromise with Sharon opponents, said the prime minister rejected her latest proposal late Thursday, but she was still trying. In Israeli politics, crises are often averted at the 11th hour.
Earlier Thursday, Sharon said he was determined to bring his pullout plan to a vote on Sunday even though he has no guarantee it will pass and a victory could lead to the dissolution of his coalition government.
Before the firing, 12 Cabinet ministers opposed the plan and 11 supported it. Sharon created a one-vote majority by firing Lieberman and Elon. Another faction supported by Jewish settlers, the National Religious Party, has threatened to quit if Sharon dismissed the National Union.
National Religious Party leader Effie Eitam rejected Sharon’s concept of removing settlements as “a terrible, immoral, bitter thing.”
Hawkish members of Sharon’s Likud Party could be uncomfortable to the point of rebellion, further endangering his government and raising the prospect of early elections within months.
Sharon’s proposal is a pullout from all of Gaza and four small settlements in the West Bank over four stages by the end of next year. Sharon, up to now the main mover behind settlement construction, has said there is no future for 7,500 Jewish settlers among 1.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.
The prime minister does not hide his underlying goal – to trade the 21 small Gaza settlements for control of the main settlement blocs in the West Bank, where most of the 230,000 Jewish settlers live.
President Bush endorsed the pullout plan at a meeting with Sharon in April, adding support for Israel in key elements of the dispute with the Palestinians, including backing for Israel’s holding on to some settlement blocs in the West Bank.
In an interview on a French radio station Thursday, Secretary of State Colin Powell called the plan “a good start” and appealed to the Palestinians to prepare for a pullout.
While Palestinians welcome Israel’s proposed exit from Gaza, they insist it must be the start of a similar evacuation of the West Bank. Palestinians claim all of the West Bank and Gaza for a state.
Throughout the day Thursday, Cabinet ministers tried to work out a compromise to prevent a coalition crisis, but Sharon was adamant.
“I intend to honor my commitment to bring the decision to the Cabinet this Sunday,” he said.
Lawmaker Yossi Sarid of the dovish opposition Yahad Party ridiculed the suggested compromise, which would postpone voting on settlement evacuations for many more months.
“It’s a plan without a plan, disengagement without disengagement, … a meatball with no meat, chicken soup without chicken, a concert without music,” Sarid scoffed.