Sharon calls for party's vote on disengagement
Some in Likud threaten to leave coalition over Gaza plan
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon proposed that his Likud party hold a referendum on his plan to disengage from the Palestinians, which includes removing almost all of the Israeli settlements in Gaza, party sources said.
Sharon spoke to a Likud convention Tuesday afternoon. He discussed the referendum proposal Monday with convention president Yisrael Katz, the sources said.
"I have decided to have a referendum among the Likud members who will be asked to vote in favor or against my plan," he said in the convention speech.
Sharon said he will honor the outcome of the Likud referendum.
The referendum would not be held until next month, when Sharon returns from talks with President Bush in Washington.
The referendum is intended to show that the 200,000 Likud members are solidly behind Sharon's proposal for a unilateral "disengagement" to separate Israel from the Palestinians.
He has said the plan would involve redeploying military forces along new security lines and relocating some Israeli settlements -- including almost all of the settlements in Gaza -- to reduce friction between Israelis and Palestinians.
It also calls for speeding the completion of the separation barrier between Israel and the West Bank.
Several of the right-wing parties in the prime minister's coalition have threatened to leave the government if Sharon goes ahead with the plan.
The leader has been reaching out to center and left-wing parties in case he has to form a new coalition government, according to Israeli media reports.
Meanwhile, a number of top Israeli politicians are calling for Sharon not to go to the United States while he faces the threat of a bribery investigation.
The state prosecutor's office has recommended that Attorney General Menachem Mazuz indict the prime minister in connection with allegations that a businessman paid money to Sharon's son to win his help in developing a Greek island when Sharon was Israeli foreign minister. (Full story)
Sharon has not been charged with any crimes and has denied any wrongdoing.
Yossi Sarid, chairman of the opposition Meretz Party, has called on Sharon to resign, a move the Israeli leader has rejected.
Tourism Minister Benny Elon, a member of Sharon's Cabinet, said the prime minister should postpone his U.S. trip while the indictment threat is hanging over him, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported, and National Religious Party Chairman Effi Eitam said Sharon should not commit Israel to any political plan until the scandal is resolved.
On Monday, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered Sharon's son, Gilad, to turn over documents and tapes related to the Greek island allegations and to another scandal -- an investigation into the Sharon family taking money from a South African millionaire to settle campaign debts.
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