Pullout delay rejected
Government votes down proposal to delay disengagement by 18-3 margin. Earlier, Sharon urges ministers to speak out against far right violence. Meanwhile, Mofaz says IDF to man voluntarily evacuated northern West Bank homes in a bid to prevent radicals from taking over
JERUSALEM - Government ministers voted Sunday to reject a proposal by minister Yisrael Katz to delay the disengagement plan by 3 months.
The proposal was rejected by 18 ministers who voted against the bill, while 3 voted in favor: Katz, Health Minister Danny Naveh, and Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Earlier, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon slammed government ministers over their silence in the face of far right violence in the Gaza Strip, and urged them to speak out against the problem.
“The ministers’ silence cannot continue,” he said during Sunday’s government session.
Sharon told ministers he instructed the internal security minister and police chief to prevent any right-wing anti-pullout disturbances.
“I would be glad if the ministers expressed themselves on the matter,” he said.
IDF to man evacuees' homes
Earlier in the session, Sharon said he is keen to prevent homes left behind by northern West Bank settlers from being used as fortresses by right-wing activists attempting to block the disnegagement plan.
“Extremists who plan on barricading themselves in these homes must be banned,” Sharon said during Sunday's government session. “IDF forces must be there to ensure that the extremists don’t move in,” he added.
Meanwhile, residents of the Ganim settlement in northern Samaria held a party to bid farewell to their community over the weekend.
They folded the flag, sang the national anthem, and packed their suitcases, ahead of their plan to voluntarily leave their homes.
During Sunday's session, Sharon responded to a survey conducted by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, which found that residents of the Ganim and Kadim settlements were willing to leave their homes voluntarily. Mofaz said that homes left by the settlers will be manned by the IDF.
Bibi maneuvers as disengagement vote nears
Sunday's government vote on the pullout delay came after a legislation committee voted to reject the bill, although Katz has appealed the decision.
A majority of Knesset members are committed to proceeding with the disengagement plan date as previously decided upon (August 15) is guaranteed, though attempts to delay the start of the operation seem certain to continue.
The bill will be brought before the Knesset on Wednesday, and Netanyahu has announced that he will not be present during the vote. In response, veiled threats have been issued by the Prime Minister’s Office hinting the finance minister may be sacked due to his refusal to take part in a decisive vote.
Sources close to Netanyahu have responded by saying that the prime minister lacks justification to sack the finance minister, pointing out that in 1997, Sharon voted against a plan to hand over Hebron to the Palestinian Authority, and later failed to appear in a Knesset vote on the issue.
Netanyahu, who was prime minister at the time, did not fire Sharon, and therefore, say the sources, there is no reason why the precedent set in ‘97 should be overturned.
Unlike Netanyahu, ministers Katz and Naveh have announced their intentions to vote with the government in the Knesset vote. Katz has also demanded that Labor party ministers vote with the government on Wednesday.
It is possible that Netanyahu will not turn up for Wednesday’s vote because he will attend a memorial ceremony for his brother, Yonatan, who was killed in an operation to rescue Israeli hostages held in Entebbe, Uganda, in 1976.
Recently, the Right has been pressing and lobbying Netanyahu in an effort to making him “come off the fence” and take a public stand against the disengagement plan.
