Labor MK Dalia Itzik said this morning that after her meeting yesterday with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, it is her understanding that the retreat from the Gaza Strip will take place "in months." Itzik, the chairperson of the Labor Knesset faction, raised some eyebrows when she said that she and Sharon had not discussed the formation of a national unity government. She also announced that Sharon informed her yesterday that "Gaza is just the beginning." MK Itzik explained that the Prime Minister believes he is in a position to make many more concessions than would ever be tolerated from a Labor-led government.



Labor Party leader MK Shimon Peres has stressed of late that there are no ongoing coalition talks aimed at bringing the Labor Party into the government. His remarks fueled speculation that contacts might in fact be taking place in other forms - or may actually already have been completed.



National Security Council chief Gen. Giora Eiland has canceled a meeting scheduled for today with the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, in which he was to discuss the disengagement plan he is preparing for Sharon. Eiland said he has "another commitment" - which turned out to be nothing other than a meeting with Sharon, who does not want him to meet with the MKs. So, at least, accuses National Union MK Aryeh Eldad. Committee member MK Matan Vilna'i of Labor expressed agreement with coalition MKs who are suspicious of Sharon's motives in preventing any serious discussion of the plan with the Knesset Members.