Israel's Foreign Minister Shalom has come out once again against Ariel Sharon's unilateral withdrawal plan. "Unilateral measures will not only not reduce friction and hostility between the two sides, but are liable to even increase them," he said. He then tried to diminish concern over the plan by saying that Sharon said he would take this route only if he sees that the other side is unwilling or unable to conduct negotiations, "and I can say that the plan is still being formulated, and it will take some time before it's completed."
It is well known that Sharon has been holding contacts with the Labor Party to ensure that even if the right-wing NRP and National Union parties quit the government because of the withdrawal-from-Gaza plan, he will be able to replace them with Labor. Minister Shalom does not like this idea: "Last year's elections showed clearly that the public chose the right-wing. Together with Sharansky's [2-seat] party, we have 40 Knesset seats, while the left-wing bloc dropped substantially. Is it logical, in view of this, that the government should be mostly left-wing? We have to do everything to maintain the current coalition."
In the meantime, Sharon's top aide Dov Weisglass is having trouble obtaining US support for the withdrawal plan. Weisglass needs two things from the Americans, and neither of them have been finalized: American backing for Israeli positions in exchange for a withdrawal from Gaza, and a definite date for a Bush-Sharon meeting in Washington.
Weisglass is trying to secure an official US declaration of support for at least three settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria: the city of Ariel and neighboring communities; the Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem; and the city of Maaleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem. In addition, he wants the Bush Administration to issue a proclamation against the so-called 'right of return' for Arabs who left Israel in 1948. However, U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, with whom Weisglass is conducting much of these negotiations, is not keen to agree.
Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the former Prime Minister whose support for the withdrawal/expulsion plan is critical for it to pass, has said that he will not back the plan unless the Americans agree to the above conditions.
Weisglass has also been working for almost two months to procure a meeting for Sharon with Bush, but the American leader - likely because of electoral considerations - is not anxious to schedule one. Sharon still faces the prospect of being indicted in either or both of the cases against him and his sons - the Cyril Kern loan and the Greek Island affair; his government is not stable; and his withdrawal plan is not assured of a majority in the Knesset or the Cabinet. Staffers for Sharon, who originally hoped for a meeting in February but recently talked of a late-March meeting, are now hoping for a mid-April date.
It is well known that Sharon has been holding contacts with the Labor Party to ensure that even if the right-wing NRP and National Union parties quit the government because of the withdrawal-from-Gaza plan, he will be able to replace them with Labor. Minister Shalom does not like this idea: "Last year's elections showed clearly that the public chose the right-wing. Together with Sharansky's [2-seat] party, we have 40 Knesset seats, while the left-wing bloc dropped substantially. Is it logical, in view of this, that the government should be mostly left-wing? We have to do everything to maintain the current coalition."
In the meantime, Sharon's top aide Dov Weisglass is having trouble obtaining US support for the withdrawal plan. Weisglass needs two things from the Americans, and neither of them have been finalized: American backing for Israeli positions in exchange for a withdrawal from Gaza, and a definite date for a Bush-Sharon meeting in Washington.
Weisglass is trying to secure an official US declaration of support for at least three settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria: the city of Ariel and neighboring communities; the Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem; and the city of Maaleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem. In addition, he wants the Bush Administration to issue a proclamation against the so-called 'right of return' for Arabs who left Israel in 1948. However, U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, with whom Weisglass is conducting much of these negotiations, is not keen to agree.
Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the former Prime Minister whose support for the withdrawal/expulsion plan is critical for it to pass, has said that he will not back the plan unless the Americans agree to the above conditions.
Weisglass has also been working for almost two months to procure a meeting for Sharon with Bush, but the American leader - likely because of electoral considerations - is not anxious to schedule one. Sharon still faces the prospect of being indicted in either or both of the cases against him and his sons - the Cyril Kern loan and the Greek Island affair; his government is not stable; and his withdrawal plan is not assured of a majority in the Knesset or the Cabinet. Staffers for Sharon, who originally hoped for a meeting in February but recently talked of a late-March meeting, are now hoping for a mid-April date.