The proposal was raised by by Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz.
The vote took place amid rising tensions between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Despite voting for the plan to abandon Gaza and northern Samaria in the cabinet and the Knesset in the past, the finance minister has been voicing outspoken opposition to the plan as the date for its implementation approaches.
When Netanyahu announced he would skip a Knesset vote this Wednesday on a bill to delay expulsion until November 2005, Sharon threatened to fire the minister. Netanyahu countered that in 1997, when he was prime minister, he refrained from firing Sharon when the situation was reversed. At that time, Sharon opposed Netanyahu's plan to withdraw from Hevron, and he skipped a Knesset vote on the matter rather than vote in favor of withdrawal.
Under Israeli law, a minister who casts a vote in the Knesset against a government decision is considered to have resigned from the government.
Despite Sharon’s threat - which he later toned down - Netanyahu still insists he will not participate in Wednesday’s Knesset vote. The vote will take place on a bill submitted by MK Zevulun Orlev (National Religious Party) to postpone the expulsion plan for three months.
Sources in the prime minister’s office tried to down play the impending drama over Wednesday’s vote. “Let's wait until Wednesday," said one offical. "At the minute, [firing Netanyahu] isn't on the agenda. What's important is the disengagement, not some negligible act that has no significance. The disengagement has a majority in the cabinet and the Knesset even without Bibi and that's what matters."
In addition to Netanyahu, the two other ministers who voted for the delay today were Health Minister Danny Naveh and Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz, both of the Likud.
Education Minister Limor Livnat, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, and Minister Without Portfolio Tzachi HaNegbi voted against delaying the expulsion. Disengagement opponents had hoped that these three, who had expressed opposition for the plan in the past, would have joined up with Netanyahu on this issue.
Prior to the cabinet vote, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he was vehemently opposed to a delay in the expulsion, calling it “dangerous." Sharon also criticized government ministers for not condemning violent outbursts against the expulsion last week.
Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres, head of the Labor Party, said that if the expulsion were delayed for even one day, his party would leave the government. Such a move would be almost guaranteed to bring about new electons.