Sharon presents plan for Gaza withdrawal
Israeli prime minister resolved to disengage despite critics
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Speaking to members of his Likud party, a determined Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon presented a timetable Tuesday for legislation that would lead to the withdrawal of the country's troops and settlers from Gaza.
Anticipating a backlash from rebel members of Likud, the prime minister said, "The disengagement will be carried out, period."
According to Sharon, the legislation, including a compensation package for settlers, will go to his Cabinet on September 14, with plans to present the bill to the Knesset, Israel's parliament, by November 3.
The Gaza settlements will be evacuated sometime after final approval of the withdrawal plan, Sharon said.
"The Palestinian Authority is ready to fulfill its responsibility to its fullest in any part of the West Bank and Gaza that Israel withdraws from," said Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator.
"We insist that the disengagement from Gaza must be part of the 'road map' and not an alternative to it," Erakat added, referring to the U.S.-backed peace plan that calls for the Palestinians to crack down on terror and the Israelis to freeze settlement activity.
Sharon heads a minority government after settler parties pulled out of his coalition government. Rebels inside his Likud party recently forced a party vote rejecting the idea that coalition talks should be opened with the opposition Labor Party, which supports Sharon's disengagement plan.
While rebels in the Likud party oppose the plan, polls show that a majority of Israelis back the proposal. Those same polls show that should Sharon decide to call early elections, he would easily win.
