An overwhelming majority in the Likud - more than 60% of the party's membership - opposes Prime Minister Sharon's unilateral Gaza withdrawal plan, according to a survey publicized this morning on Israel Radio.
The poll is significant, in that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced last week that he will present the withdrawal plan for the approval of the 200,000 Likud party members, and will abide by their decision. No date has yet been set for the vote.
The poll was commissioned by aides to Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, whose approval for the withdrawal is critical for the plan - as even Sharon acknowledges. The Prime Minister, in fact, will be meeting with Netanyahu today in an attempt to secure the latter's consent for the retreat/expulsion plan. Sharon is scheduled to meet with U.S. President George Bush in Washington next week, and wants to ascertain that Netanyahu accepts the rough draft of the principles on which Sharon and the Americans have agreed so far.
Just two weeks ago, Netanyahu set three conditions without which, he said, he could not support the withdrawal plan. The conditions are:
* Israel must control all entrances and exits to the Gaza Strip, including the Philadelphi route separating Egypt and Gaza.
* The counter-terrorism partition fence around Judea and Samaria must be completed before the retreat begins. Included in the "Israeli areas" must be settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria.
* The Americans must issue public declarations against the so-called Right of Return for Arabs who left Israel in 1948.
Israel Radio commentator Chanan Crystal said this morning that the above poll is apparently less accurate than a similar poll - with opposite results - commissioned by Ariel Sharon's office last week. The Sharon poll, which showed that 60% of the Likud membership would support the plan, was based on a more updated list of Likud members than the Netanyahu survey. Despite this, Crystal surmised that Netanyahu would likely use the force of the latest poll to object to the withdrawal plan in its present form, and will insist that Sharon demand more from the Americans.
Leading Likud opponents of the Prime Minister's unilateral disengagement plan will also meet this afternoon to map out their campaign against the plan. Their campaign will focus on the dangers of the withdrawal both to the Land of Israel and to the war against terrorism. The meeting will take place in Minister Uzi Landau's Tel Aviv office.
The poll is significant, in that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced last week that he will present the withdrawal plan for the approval of the 200,000 Likud party members, and will abide by their decision. No date has yet been set for the vote.
The poll was commissioned by aides to Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, whose approval for the withdrawal is critical for the plan - as even Sharon acknowledges. The Prime Minister, in fact, will be meeting with Netanyahu today in an attempt to secure the latter's consent for the retreat/expulsion plan. Sharon is scheduled to meet with U.S. President George Bush in Washington next week, and wants to ascertain that Netanyahu accepts the rough draft of the principles on which Sharon and the Americans have agreed so far.
Just two weeks ago, Netanyahu set three conditions without which, he said, he could not support the withdrawal plan. The conditions are:
* Israel must control all entrances and exits to the Gaza Strip, including the Philadelphi route separating Egypt and Gaza.
* The counter-terrorism partition fence around Judea and Samaria must be completed before the retreat begins. Included in the "Israeli areas" must be settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria.
* The Americans must issue public declarations against the so-called Right of Return for Arabs who left Israel in 1948.
Israel Radio commentator Chanan Crystal said this morning that the above poll is apparently less accurate than a similar poll - with opposite results - commissioned by Ariel Sharon's office last week. The Sharon poll, which showed that 60% of the Likud membership would support the plan, was based on a more updated list of Likud members than the Netanyahu survey. Despite this, Crystal surmised that Netanyahu would likely use the force of the latest poll to object to the withdrawal plan in its present form, and will insist that Sharon demand more from the Americans.
Leading Likud opponents of the Prime Minister's unilateral disengagement plan will also meet this afternoon to map out their campaign against the plan. Their campaign will focus on the dangers of the withdrawal both to the Land of Israel and to the war against terrorism. The meeting will take place in Minister Uzi Landau's Tel Aviv office.