U.S. officials: Removal of Gaza settlements will boost Hamas: U.S. AGAINST SHARON PLAN?

Ha'aretz ^ | Last Update: 10/02/2004 21:06 | By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent and agencies

[yonif]

Nah, the investigation is pretty much over. It has been declared that there is not enough evidence for corruption charges.

The thing that will stop this plan will be rightwing parties leaving the coalition, breaking up the government, and causing a move to new elections in 60 days. This will happen very soon.

[yonif]

And Sharon might well get the knife stuck in by some of his junior coalition parties.

It will be impossible, unless the Labor party comes into the coalition, which they have said they will not. As a result, the new coalition, which is missing around 15-20 members now in Parliament, will no longer have majority in the parliament, which will lead to new elections.

[Piranha]

And what kind of government do you suppose would be formed after the elections?

[SJackson]

He just learned to change font size.

Like a two year old who just learned to finger paint, watch out for the walls!

[SJackson]

It will be impossible, unless the Labor party comes into the coalition, which they have said they will not. As a result, the new coalition, which is missing around 15-20 members now in Parliament, will no longer have majority in the parliament, which will lead to new elections.

I think you're mistaken. None other than Peres himself has said Labor would support Sharon in view of the Gaza withdrawl. There will be no elections.

[yonif]

I think you're mistaken. None other than Peres himself has said Labor would support Sharon in view of the Gaza withdrawl. There will be no elections.

I thought he said he would not support the government until the plan is executed in the field.

[yonif]

And what kind of government do you suppose would be formed after the elections?

Interesting question. Likud party won 40 seats, running on a platform against supporting evacuation of territories. But in the new elections, there is a chance Labor will be elected with a number of seats, which will allow it to form a coalition.

This could occur with some rightwing voters stopping to support the Likud, which has now adopted leftist policies, and move to support real rightwing parties. But these parties never get more then 20 seats, each.

[Bobby777]

I'm getting a headache ... let Israel take Arafat out ... that'll slow them down eventually ... appeasement only encourages them ...

[SJackson]

One of us can check Arutz Sheva or IMRA, but I thought he said Labor would support Sharon in organizing a new government if yesterdays (day before?) confidence vote had failed. I believe Sharon gets the first chance at organizing a new government. I presume it would Foreign Minister Shimon Peres would have been the price.

[rmlew]

This would be demographic suicide. By the end of next year, there will be more Arabs than Jews in Israel and Yesha combined.
The Arabs would call for a 1 state solution, wherein they would become citizens of Israel and then vote it out of existance.

Some degree of transfer is the only solution.

[rmlew]

Look for Benny Begin to come back and call Herut the real Likud.

[yonif]

Looks like your correct. I think I got confused because the Labor Party, I think, did not support the government in the previous no-confidence vote, which failed.

Another thing we should watch, as IMRA has shown, is that Shinui on its website shows that it is against unilateral pullback from the territories. And they have many seats. This may be a problem.

[SparkieWalt]

Israel cannot continue fighting a partial war, it has turned into a Veitnam type situation for them. They must not continue fighting this war from a political view. They need a man like Bush, who will lead no matter what the polls say.

[monkeyshine]

Sharon may just be bluffing. I have thought a lot about this, and the truth is that neither the US, Egypt or Jordan or even the UN want an Israeli pullout. By announcing the pullout Sharon is forcing these countries to go as far as coming out IN FAVOR of Israeli occupation and, by inference, settlement!

Even if these countries don't go that far, they will still be forced to change their tune quite a bit. This will alleviate the international pressure on Israel, and also cause the media to turn the heat down quite a bit, since it will have become obvious that after all these years of haranguing Israel to withdraw from "arab land", nobody really wants them to.

And the reason they don't want them to is manyfold, but Egypt and Jordan don't want the security problem, and the immigration problem, and/or the exodus problem if/when the Palestinian civil war starts. The USA doesn't want to have to deal with the financial/social/military problems involving a decrepit "Palestine" or a "sharia Palestine" in the absense of Israeli oversight, in the middle of a civil war. The UN doesn't want Israel to leave them with the mess.

[monkeyshine]

What more can you tell us about the Israeli media, talk in Israel, about foreign reaction to Sharon's annoucement. Any response from Europe yet?

[yonif]

Polls show a little over 50% support pulling out in this manner from Gaza. The UN has said that it supports it, and wants Israel to immediately also get going on pulling out from the "West Bank."

The US has some fears this will end their roadmap to "peace" (their version on how to create the PLO terrorist state).

[Cinnamon Girl]

Hey, monkeyshine. I don't think so, about Sharon. Why would he want to tick off the rest of the right? It is the leftist Rabin nuts in Israel that want this. You know all the secular liberals in Tel Aviv can't stand the dati "settlers" in Gush Katif, etc. It seems that once again, the Israeli government is Israel's worst enemy with regard to politics.

[Cinnamon Girl]

Children in the Gaza Strip settlement of Neveh Dekalim on Tuesday preparing salad as a show of support for the IDF. (AP)