Minister Sharansky quits over pullout

JERUSALEM - Minister of Diaspora and Jerusalem Affairs Natan Sharansky submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Monday morning.

Sharansky's resignation stems from his objection to the upcoming Gaza Strip and northern West Bank pullout. The minister submitted his resignation letter to the Prime Minister's Office as Sharon himself was on his way there.

In his letter to Sharon, Sharansky noted he opposed the disengagement plan from the outset based on the belief that "every concession in the peace process on the part of Israel must be conditioned on democratic reforms on the Palestinian side."

"The disengagement plan does not meet this basic condition," Sharansky wrote. "The opposite is true: it will lower the chances for the establishment of a free Palestinian society and would provide terrorist elements with a backwind."

Sharansky added that as a minister he must assume responsibility for all government moves, and cannot continue serving in a government whose only focus is the advancement of a plan he strongly rejects.

Sharon praises Sharansky 

During Monday's government session, Prime Minister Sharon expressed his appreciation for Sharansky's efforts and said he would have been glad to see him continue in his post.

"I want to thank him and praise his work in the matters he was tasked with," Sharon said. "He did an exceptional job in advancing the matter of fighting anti-Semitism around the world."

Sharon noted he has known Sharansky for many years and wished him success in the future.

"He was a pleasant man to work with," the prime minister said. "He had great achievements."

Notably, Sharansky was the last Likud minister objecting to the pullout plan to remain in the government, after other Likud ministers and deputy ministers opposed to the disengagement were fired.

'Political and ideological bankruptcy'

Right-wing Knesset Member Effie Eitam (Hitchabrut) said in response to Sharansky's resignation “His resignation constitutes a major moral victory for the anti-disengagement camp.”

“Sharansky has become a global symbol in the struggle for human rights, human liberty and the advancement of democracy,” he said.

Knesset Member Ehud Yatom (Likud), a staunch disengagement opposer, said Sharansky is “the type of politician whose integrity and decency overcomes his interest to keep his post.”

“Sharansky’s detachment will provide renewed momentum to the struggle against the disengagement,” he said.

But politicians on the left did not view Sharansky's move in the same light.

Yachad Party Head Zahava Gal-on (Yachad) said, “Why has it taken him, the knight of democracy, such a long time to resign for fear the Palestinians’ human rights would be violated?”

“How is it that Sharansky had not resigned over the closures, the demolishing of homes, the administrative detentions and the assassinations?”

Knesset Member Roman Bronfman, also of Yachad, said, “His resignation constitutes his and his party’s ideological and political bankruptcy.”

“A human rights activist under the Soviet regime has turned here into a fighter for the occupation. Sharansky, who was elected by the new immigrants’ votes, in fact never represented their interests, but rather represented the interests of the settlers and their life work,” he said.