excerpts....
Likud's Limor Livnat and Gideon Sa'ar advised voters to "believe those who speak English rather than the denials in Hebrew... This is proof once again that Kadima's path is the path of the left and of withdrawal."
Sa'ar told Israel Radio on Wednesday that Sharon had asked MK Haim Oron of the left-wing Meretz party to join Kadima.
National Religious Party Chairman Zevulun Orlev declared: "Kalman Gayer says aloud what Sharon says behind closed doors. It is possible that Sharon once again plans to deceive the voters who remember that he said Netzarim's fate was the same as that of Tel Aviv."
Sharon issued a special statement Tuesday night in which he dissociated himself from Gayer's quotes in Newsweek.
"The remarks attributed to Kalman Gayer are in total contradiction to my positions and opinions," Sharon's statement read. "If, indeed, these remarks were made, they were made strictly on Mr. Gayer's initiative, and they are senseless and absurd.
"The entire united Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel forever. The road map is the diplomatic plan that will guide Israel in the years to come, and whosoever says anything different is doing so of his own accord and in total contradiction to my position; and that is how the remarks should be treated," Sharon's statement said.
Sharon's advisers hastened to extinguish the flames. They said Gayer explained he had given the reporter background information, but denied the quotes attributed to him.
There has been tension between Sharon and Gayer since Tzachi Hanegbi announced last week he was joining Kadima, a move that Gayer tried to prevent. The advisers said Tuesday that Gayer was good as a pollster, but he was not part of the prime minister's policy-deciding forum and
that his remarks, "which had anyway been denied, were not important."