Prepare To Evacuate

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It isn't clear who at this stage is on Sharon's side. Though quietly cheered by the prospect of the Israelis' leaving Gaza, Palestinians are enraged by his assassination policy and the suggestion that Sharon no longer sees the Palestinians as "partners for peace." Inside his Cabinet, Sharon has faced open criticism from his Foreign Minister, Silvan Shalom. At a meeting of Likud Cabinet ministers in Sharon's office last week, Shalom told the Prime Minister there was no point in a unilateral withdrawal because it was impossible to predict how Palestinians would react in its aftermath. Better, Shalom said, to work out an agreement with the Palestinians. He criticized Sharon for not offering to withdraw last year, when it might have bolstered Mahmoud Abbas, then Palestinian Prime Minister. "He was a partner," Shalom told Sharon, "but you didn't propose your plan back then."

Sharon has not yet persuaded the Bush Administration to go along with this plan. While the White House has signaled a willingness to back an Israeli pullout from Gaza, U.S. officials are skeptical about Sharon's hopes of annexing parts of the West Bank in exchange. Sharon wants assurances that if he pulls Israel out of the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank, the U.S. will give at least vague recognition to some annexations of West Bank land. But for the U.S. to offer Sharon such assurances would outrage Palestinian and Arab leaders, who see his disengagement plan as a ploy to eat away at the territory of a future Palestinian state in the West Bank. So far, the U.S. says it's not ready to give Sharon what he wants. "We're not going to put our seal of approval on anything that's unilateral," says a senior State Department official.

Even if Sharon persuades the White House and his party to go along with his plan, Cabinet ministers say, the evacuation of settlers from Gaza wouldn't begin until October at the earliest — which could be around the start of a Sharon trial, if he is ultimately indicted. At a Cabinet meeting held hours after the state prosecutor's indictment recommendation, the Deputy Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, greeted Sharon as he took his seat. "Arik, I know it's not easy, but you can handle it," Olmert said, gripping Sharon's hand. "You know, I have some worries," Sharon admitted. Then he flashed a look of determination. "It's not that bad," he said. "I will prevail." For a moment, the old Arik was back.