The 2,700 members of the Likud Party\'s Central Committee convene tonight in Tel Aviv for a dramatic meeting. On the agenda: A resolution against the establishment of any form of a Palestinian state, in direct opposition to the stated position of Prime Minister and party leader Ariel Sharon. Sharon\'s supporters are still trying to prevent the vote from taking place, but polls show that support for the resolution within the Central Committee is great. Former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Sharon\'s chief competitor in the party, is opposed to a PLO state.
Education Minister Limor Livnat, whose star has risen under Sharon - she accompanied him to Washington last week and became Israel\'s chief spokesperson for the duration - has proposed a compromise: a vote on the re-ratification of the entire Likud platform. The platform states, \"The unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state will be a fundamental violation of the agreements with the State of Israel, and will mean the nullification of the Oslo and Wye Agreements… The State of Israel will not allow the establishment of an Arab Palestinian state west of the Jordan River. The Palestinians will be able to freely run their lives in the framework of self-rule and not of a sovereign independent country. For instance, their actions in terms of foreign relations, security, immigration, and ecology will be restricted in accordance with Israel\'s existential, defense, and national needs.\"
Education Minister Limor Livnat, whose star has risen under Sharon - she accompanied him to Washington last week and became Israel\'s chief spokesperson for the duration - has proposed a compromise: a vote on the re-ratification of the entire Likud platform. The platform states, \"The unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state will be a fundamental violation of the agreements with the State of Israel, and will mean the nullification of the Oslo and Wye Agreements… The State of Israel will not allow the establishment of an Arab Palestinian state west of the Jordan River. The Palestinians will be able to freely run their lives in the framework of self-rule and not of a sovereign independent country. For instance, their actions in terms of foreign relations, security, immigration, and ecology will be restricted in accordance with Israel\'s existential, defense, and national needs.\"