Sharon cancels U.S. visit to work on withdrawal plan
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon canceled a trip to Washington to allow him to rework his plan to pull Jewish settlements out of Gaza and parts of the West Bank, his office said Sunday.
Sharon was scheduled to address the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobby, said an official in his office. The AIPAC is holding its annual conference in Washington May 16-18.
Instead, Sharon will hold consultations in Israel on the disengagement plan that his Likud party voted down on May 2 in a nonbinding referendum, his office said.
Likud members rejected Sharon's plan by a 3-to-2 ratio, according to results released by the party.
Sharon said he would consult with his Cabinet, his party and other parties on how to proceed.
President Bush strongly backs Sharon's plan, and White House aides played down the significance of Likud's rejection.
Palestinians have criticized Sharon's plan, accusing him and his government of attempting to circumvent the negotiations about Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories called for in the so-called "road map" to Middle East peace. The plan is supported by the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.
Sharon has said the withdrawal is necessary because the Palestinian Authority had failed to rein in Palestinian terrorist attacks on Israelis and because the diplomatic process is in a "frozen state."
In addition to approving Sharon's plan, Bush has sided with Sharon on a key Palestinian demand -- what Palestinians call the "right of return" to lands taken from them or abandoned in 1948 -- saying Palestinians must settle in a Palestinian state, not Israel.
Bush has said final negotiations on the West Bank must recognize that "realities on the ground" have changed.
Israel seized the West Bank and Gaza in 1967 during the Six-Day War and began building settlements soon after. There are now about 230,000 Israelis living in West Bank settlements, and Gaza is home to about 7,500 Jewish settlers.
