Sharon and Peres Agree on New Israeli Government | December 30, 2004

By Reuters
Published: December 30, 2004

JERUSALEM (Reuters)- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reached a deal with Shimon Peres on Thursday to name the opposition leader his senior deputy, clearing a key obstacle to a unity government able to abandon the occupied Gaza Strip.

Israeli troops killed five Palestinians on a raid into violence-plagued Gaza, where bloodshed has not ebbed despite new peace hopes after Yasser Arafat's death and expectations that moderate Mahmoud Abbas will win elections next month.

Most Israelis want to quit Gaza and right-winger Sharon has been negotiating with center-left Labour opponents on a unity government able to uproot settlers from the territory and a small chunk of the West Bank next year.

To end legal wrangling over titles, Sharon and Peres agreed that the Labour leader and Nobel peace laureate would be the most senior ``deputy prime minister'' in the new coalition.

Peres had originally wanted to be a ``vice-premier,'' but that was constitutionally impossible unless Sharon sacked his current number two and Likud ally, Ehud Olmert.

``The green light has been given for putting together a government,'' said Michael Eitan, chairman of the parliamentary committee that would otherwise have needed to discuss changing the law.

Israeli commentators said a government could be named as early as Monday.

Sharon's plan is to evacuate 8,000 settlers living among 1.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, captured by Israel in the 1967 war. Four of 120 West Bank settlements would also go.

Violence in Gaza has intensified as both sides try to bloody each other ahead of a withdrawal.

FIVE PALESTINIANS KILLED

Israeli troops killed three militants and two teenagers on Thursday during what the army called a raid to end rocket and mortar fire at nearby settlements. Palestinian witnesses said the militants died in a missile strike and two 17-year-olds were shot dead while watching street clashes.

Condemning the raid, Palestinian officials said it undermined preparations for Jan. 9 elections to pick a successor to Arafat, despite Israeli promises to help ensure they go smoothly.

``We urge the international community to immediately intervene to enable us to hold a free and a fair election,'' Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat told Reuters.

But militant attacks also pose a challenge to Abbas, who is widely expected to win the election and has called for an end to armed struggle in a 4-year-old uprising.

Gunmen hoisted him on their shoulders during a campaign stop in the West Bank city of Jenin. Armed men from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, part of his Fatah faction, fired volleys in the air and chanted: ``We sacrifice our blood and soul for you.''

Abbas made no direct mention of non-violence and reiterated that he would follow Arafat's path to peace and statehood.

Attacks outside Gaza have reduced since Arafat died in a Paris hospital on Nov. 11, but militants have resisted calls to disarm and the question of reining them in will be the toughest facing the new leadership after the election.

Sharon has said 2005 may be a year of peace and that he could coordinate the pullout from Gaza, though wider talks could only follow if attacks by militants stopped.

Palestinians fear that Sharon's ``Disengagement Plan,'' backed by Western countries, will give them Gaza at the cost of a stronger Israeli hold in the West Bank. Both territories were captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.

Vice-premier Olmert on Thursday repeated a call, rejected by Sharon, for a wider withdrawal from the West Bank after the current plan is completed. Ehud Olmert said it would not necessarily require talks with the Palestinians.

Posted by admin at December 30, 2004 01:27 PM