Sharon wins OK on Gaza

JERUSALEM — Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, won what he called the most important vote of his political life on Tuesday night, as the Israeli Parliament approved his plan to remove all Israeli settlements from Gaza.

The vote, in an atmosphere of high drama and tension, with thousands of settlers demonstrating outside, was 67-45, with seven abstentions and one legislator absent because of illness.

The vote was narrower than Sharon had hoped, splitting his Likud Party and governing coalition and leaving him with difficult choices about whether to restructure his government, call new elections or both.

While a defeat would have doomed Sharon and his Gaza plan, a victory does not guarantee the plan will be enacted. Still, the vote was an occasion of profound symbolism — the first time Israel has agreed to dismantle settlements in Gaza, 21 of them, and the West Bank, though only four tiny ones there will go. Many Israelis, even some who are not religious, consider both those areas part of the historic Jewish homeland.

Asher Susser, the director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle East Studies, said, "This is one of the most historically important moments in Israel's history since 1948, and certainly since 1967."

He added, "This is not about Gaza — this is the opening of a major debate about Israel's soul.

We are for the first time since 1967 discussing what Israel is, how it shall be governed and how we define ourselves. Is Israel a secular democratic state or a state governed by Jewish religious law? We are debating the borders of Israel, its long-term survivability and the very nature of the Jewish state."

A large part of Sharon's own Likud Party, which once used a slogan — "Not one inch!" — about its refusal to return territory, opposes the plan and will continue to try to block it.

After the vote, Sharon's primary internal rival, his finance minister and former prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he and three other ministers would resign from the government if Sharon did not agree within 14 days to hold a national referendum on the Gaza plan. Netanyahu, who voted stony-faced for the plan before his ultimatum, said: "We do not wish to topple anyone. We do wish, however, to give unity a chance."