1. SHARON WINS GAZA VOTE WITH LARGE MAJORITY…Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Gaza-withdrawal plan was approved with a large majority in the vote in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, on Tuesday night. Wednesday’s Israeli newspapers described the victory as “historic,” as it paves the way for the removal of all civilians and soldiers from the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of four Jewish villages in Samaria, the northern part of the West Bank. Following the 67-45 vote, the proposal now returns to the cabinet for the setting of a specific timetable.
2. TOP MINISTERS EMBARRASSED, BOUNCE BACK WITH THREAT…Several government ministers voted in favor of Ariel Sharon’s plan, despite being opposed to the idea. In a series of last-minute political maneuvers ahead of the vote, Sharon outplayed his political colleagues and foes, Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Limor Livnat. The two, and several of their allies were left quite literally looking embarrassed in the Knesset plenum with more than a bead or two of sweat on their foreheads. However, the political battle is still in its earliest stages, the small National Religious Party has said it will only stay in the government if Sharon agrees to put the Gaza plan to a popular referendum within the next 13 days. Netanyahu and Livnat have now jumped onto the NRP’s bandwagon threatening to resign if Sharon does not meet the NRP’s demand.
3. HAMAS: SHARON VOTE PROVES ATTACKS WORK…The Palestinian terror groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad issued statements on Wednesday saying the Israeli vote in favor of a withdrawal from Gaza is proof that the attacks on Israeli targets work. The groups have been behind terror attacks that have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Israelis and foreign nationals.
4. U.S. PLEASED WITH VOTE…The United States sees the Gaza vote as an opportunity to build momentum towards a return to Israel-Palestinian peace talks. The last full negotiations took place in 2000, when Bill Clinton was still U.S. president. At that point then Israeli premier Ehud Barak offered a reported 97 percent of the post-1967 territories, including parts of eastern Jerusalem for the creation of a Palestinian state. Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat declined the offer.
5. POLLS SHOW KERRY A HIT IN ARAB WORLD…A series of straw polls around the Middle East suggest United States presidential candidate John Kerry is far more popular than George W. Bush with Arabs in the region. The Media Line analysts say much of that is based on a dislike of President George W. Bush’s policies on Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.