Knesset Approves Disengagement Plan
(October 26, 2004)
Israel's Knesset voted to approve Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon's plan to
unilaterally disengage from the Gaza
Strip and northern West Bank.
The vote was 67 in favor, 45 against, with 7 abstentions and one member
absent.
Education Minister Limor
Livnat and Finance Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu initially threatened to abstain, but voted in favor of
the withdrawal along with Ministers Silvan
Shalom and Tzachi Hanegbi.
Altogether 23 Likud MKs voted in favor of the plan, while 17 voted against it. A total of
21 Labor and One
Nation MKs voted in favor, as did 14 Shinui MKs, six Yahad MKs, two United
Arab List members and one National Union MK (Michael Nuddelman).
All eleven Shas MKs voted against the plan, on the orders of the party's spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, as did
six National Religious Party members, six National Union MKs and five United
Torah Judaism Mks. Three Hadash MKs and three Balad MKs abstained, as did one One
Nation MK.
Social Affairs Minister Zevulun
Orlev (NRP) said afterward
that his party will quit the government within fourteen days if Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon does not agree to hold a national referendum on
unilateral disengagement. Meanwhile, Israel Radio reported that Sharon
will dismiss Minister -Without – Portfolio Uzi
Landau and deputy Industry and Trade Minister Michael
Ratzon for voting against disengagement. Sharon had said earlier
he wouldl fire any minister who voted against the plan.
The plan submitted to the Knesset is the exact version
approved by the cabinet on June 6, which states explicitly in its first
clause that the approval of the plan by the government was “not
a decision to evacuate settlements.”
For the evacuation to be carried out, the cabinet must meet again to
decide on which settlements to evacuate and when.
The Knesset must also approve the disengagement plan
implementation legislation in three readings. The bill being drafted
by the government determines compensation and evacuation procedures.
Under the bill, which is to be brought for a first reading on November
1, 2004, settlers who leave the Gaza Strip and relocate to the Galilee
or Negev will get a $30,000 bonus.
Sources: Jerusalem
Post
& Haaretz,(October
26, 2004) |