Sharon's Likud Party defeats plan for Gaza withdrawal

JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud Party rejected his plan to pull out of the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank Sunday, media polls indicated, an embarrassing defeat for the premier.\nThe referendum left the future of Sharon's "unilateral disengagement" from the Palestinians in doubt, and its defeat could precipitate a major political crisis -- a Cabinet reshuffle, a split within the party or even early elections.\nDespite intensified security for the vote, Palestinian gunmen in Gaza killed a pregnant settler and her four daughters as they headed into Israel to campaign against Sharon's scheme. It was the deadliest attack on Gaza settlers in two years.\nIsrael retaliated with an airstrike on a Gaza radio station affiliated with the militant Hamas group, lightly injuring seven Palestinians in the 14-story building, and with another strike on a car full of militants in the West Bank city of Nablus.\nSupporters of Sharon's plan said the violence underscored the hopeless burden of staying in Gaza. Opponents argued any withdrawal would be seen as a reward for terror and encourage more attacks on Israelis.\nSharon initially said he would consider the referendum among the 193,000 Likud members as binding but in recent days appeared to back away from that.\n"The meaning is not that (Sharon's proposal) is wrong," said Vice Premier Ehud Olmert, a strong supporter of the plan. "There is no alternative for the people of Israel. This move cannot be stopped ... We have to find a way."\nSharon had personalized the campaign, saying he considered it a vote of confidence in him and hinting he might resign if the plan was defeated. Few believe he would step down.\nLikud members make up only 4 percent of the Israeli electorate, and the low turnout -- less than 50 percent -- among even that fraction of voters could give Sharon room to ignore the results.\nProponents of the plan "will continually point out that this was a poll of a very select number of people," said political analyst Gerald Steinberg. "There will be a certain government crisis for a few weeks, but the basic plan will continue and Sharon will find alternative routes to try to get it across."\nTelephone polls conducted by Israel's three main television stations gave opponents of the plan a lead of anywhere from 12 to 24 percentage points.\nIn Neve Dekalim, home to one-third of Gaza's settlers, former New York City residents Rachel and Moishe Sapperstein, both 63, were happy. "People here have common sense, and they can't be hoodwinked by a nonsense plan," Mrs. Sapperstein said. "And they know you cannot give prizes to terrorists."\n"This is not good for the country, and a terrible day for the party," countered Likud minister Tzipi Livni.\nSharon has said his plan to evacuate Gaza's 21 settlements and four small West Bank settlements was vital -- in the absence of other peace moves -- to reducing violence with the Palestinians and defusing international pressure on Israel.\n"Those who vote 'no' today will bring about an increase in terror," Sharon said Sunday.\nThe United States and European Union welcomed the plan, which would be the first time Israel has uprooted settlements in Gaza and the West Bank, areas it captured during the 1967 Mideast war.\nPalestinians greeted the plan with suspicion, angry that they were sidelined and worried that Israel was trying to cement its hold over much of the West Bank. Palestinians view settlements in both areas as illegal.\n"From the beginning, we said that the way to peace is through meaningful negotiations," Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat said.