Tensions are high in the Likud with only four days to go until its 193,000 members go to the polls to help decide the future of Gush Katif and the State of Israel.
It is assumed that those who object to the plan are more motivated and thus more likely to vote. The higher the voter turnout there is, therefore, the more the Sharon camp has room for optimism. Efforts in both camps, though still concentrating on person-to-person visits - Prime Minister Sharon is engaged in phone calls this morning - are now turning to the logistics of "getting out the vote on Sunday."
In the meantime, Mr. Sharon and his staffers are said to be hiding the truth from the public regarding the depth of his planned pullback from Judea and Samaria. "If the Likud members would know what Sharon is really planning," Likud leaders told Yossi Elituv of Mishpachah [Family] magazine, "they would be storming his office and demanding his immediate resignation."
The Likud seniors told Elituv that Sharon has given the order to "hide the evacuation from Judea/Samaria, and concentrate only on the pullback from Gaza. His purpose is to lull the Likud members, obtain their consent for the disengagement from Gaza, and then to use that to move on to the next stage - a massive evacuation of Judea and Samaria." Specifically, the quoted sources in Elituv's article say, 20 Yesha communities are on the chopping block - involving the expulsion of some 100,000 Jews. This is in addition to the four towns that are to be uprooted simultaneously with Gush Katif, namely, Kadim, Ganim, Sa-Nur and Chomesh.
The Likud members quoted by Elituv say that the Prime Minister does not plan another party referendum regarding the next stage of his plan.
In confirmation of the above, an Associated Press article published today states,
"In promoting his plan of unilateral disengagement from the Palestinians, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is evading a central question: what will happen to about 100 West Bank settlements on the 'wrong' side of Israel's separation barrier? Senior Israeli officials and government advisers acknowledge privately that many - if not all - of these isolated enclaves may eventually be taken down, even without a peace deal, if they become increasingly indefensible... These settlements will be ringed by individual fences. If the Palestinians don't agree to a resumption of peace talks, under terms acceptable to Israel, 'we take out those isolated communities that can't be defended and move on our way,' a senior Israeli official said on condition of anonymity."
Prime Minister Sharon himself has said that he plans to leave only five large settlement blocs in place - meaning that all the other flourishing towns and communities in Yesha will be uprooted. Sharon says he wants to retain Gush Etzion, Kiryat Arba-Hevron, Givat Ze'ev, Ariel and Maaleh Adumim, while towns to be dispensed with include Elon Moreh, Ofrah, Shilo, Beit El, and more.
It is assumed that those who object to the plan are more motivated and thus more likely to vote. The higher the voter turnout there is, therefore, the more the Sharon camp has room for optimism. Efforts in both camps, though still concentrating on person-to-person visits - Prime Minister Sharon is engaged in phone calls this morning - are now turning to the logistics of "getting out the vote on Sunday."
In the meantime, Mr. Sharon and his staffers are said to be hiding the truth from the public regarding the depth of his planned pullback from Judea and Samaria. "If the Likud members would know what Sharon is really planning," Likud leaders told Yossi Elituv of Mishpachah [Family] magazine, "they would be storming his office and demanding his immediate resignation."
The Likud seniors told Elituv that Sharon has given the order to "hide the evacuation from Judea/Samaria, and concentrate only on the pullback from Gaza. His purpose is to lull the Likud members, obtain their consent for the disengagement from Gaza, and then to use that to move on to the next stage - a massive evacuation of Judea and Samaria." Specifically, the quoted sources in Elituv's article say, 20 Yesha communities are on the chopping block - involving the expulsion of some 100,000 Jews. This is in addition to the four towns that are to be uprooted simultaneously with Gush Katif, namely, Kadim, Ganim, Sa-Nur and Chomesh.
The Likud members quoted by Elituv say that the Prime Minister does not plan another party referendum regarding the next stage of his plan.
In confirmation of the above, an Associated Press article published today states,
"In promoting his plan of unilateral disengagement from the Palestinians, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is evading a central question: what will happen to about 100 West Bank settlements on the 'wrong' side of Israel's separation barrier? Senior Israeli officials and government advisers acknowledge privately that many - if not all - of these isolated enclaves may eventually be taken down, even without a peace deal, if they become increasingly indefensible... These settlements will be ringed by individual fences. If the Palestinians don't agree to a resumption of peace talks, under terms acceptable to Israel, 'we take out those isolated communities that can't be defended and move on our way,' a senior Israeli official said on condition of anonymity."
Prime Minister Sharon himself has said that he plans to leave only five large settlement blocs in place - meaning that all the other flourishing towns and communities in Yesha will be uprooted. Sharon says he wants to retain Gush Etzion, Kiryat Arba-Hevron, Givat Ze'ev, Ariel and Maaleh Adumim, while towns to be dispensed with include Elon Moreh, Ofrah, Shilo, Beit El, and more.