Sharon proposes timetable for his 'disengagement' plan
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 9/1/2004

Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon told a stormy Israeli cabinet meeting Tuesday that his "disengagement" plan will be implemented. He proposed a timetable for the plan which was strongly criticized by his cabinet members.

Sharon said he intends to submit the law on the "disengagement" plan, including criteria for evacuating and compensating settlers, to the mini-cabinet on September 14.

On September 26, the draft law memo would be sent to all cabinet members. On its website, the Israeli Yediot Aharonot newspaper quoted Sharon as saying that by October 24 the draft law will be endorsed by the government and on November put for the first vote in Knesset.

The Israeli premier added that after legislative measures are concluded, the government will put forward a plan for evacuating four settlement blocs.

Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed Sharon's decision to withdraw from the Gaza Strip at once and not in stages as previously agreed.

Sharon told senior cabinet ministers Monday he wants to evacuate all Gaza Strip settlements at one time instead of in four stages in what Israeli officials described as a major shift in position.

Settlers and their backers, many from Sharon's own Likud party, oppose the withdrawal from Gaza and a phased removal could have set the stage for months of confrontations between Gaza settlers and police. The Israeli cabinet also decided Monday that police officers will evacuate settlers under the "disengagement" plan, while the Israel army forces will maintain overall responsibility for the pullout, the position exposed by Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz.

The Israeli army and police have been at loggerheads over who will evacuate settlers from the Gaza Strip and some West Bank settlements, with each agency trying to foist the task on the other.

Previous Stories:
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  Israel plans 530 new settler homes in West Bank, sources say   (8/27/2004)
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