Sharon to meet settler leaders opposed to Gaza pullout plan

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was to meet Sunday settler leaders who are fiercely opposed to his Gaza pullout plan as his cabinet convened for the last time before giving its verdict on the project.
Benzi Lieberman, head of the main Yesha settlers council, said he expected the talks with the premier would be "difficult" and voiced his support for the so-called disengagement plan to be put to a national referendum.
Under the terms of Sharon's proposals, all 8,000 Jewish settlers currently living in the Gaza Strip and four isolated Jewish enclaves in the northern West Bank are due to be uprooted from their homes next year.
In turn, Sharon is hoping that such a unilateral measure will enable him to strengthen Israeli control over larger West Bank settlement blocs where the majority of settlers live.
Sharon is still looking to find a parliamentary majority for his plan when he presents it to MPs on October 25. He lost his majority in June when previous allies were either sacked or resigned in protest at what settlers have described as the "forcible transfer of Jews."
The vote in parliament has been scheduled for a day after Sharon's cabinet is due to give its verdict on the project.
There have been widespread calls for the proposals to be the subject of a national referendum, an idea so far rejected by Sharon on the basis that there is no time for such a ballot.
While polls have shown there is a clear majority in the country for the plan, he is wary that his opponents could manage to mobilise support on a far greater scale than those who are in favour.
Sharon's own Likud party voted against disengagement in a ballot back in May despite polls indicating that he would win.
In an interview with public radio, Lieberman said he was in favour of a referendum.
"I agree with this idea because a decision which is so crucial to the future of the country needs a qualified majority," he said.
His reference to a "qualified majority" indicated that the settlers would not simply accept a 50 percent threshold for the project as binding.
Education Minister Limor Livnat, who met with Yesha representatives late Saturday, said she had floated an idea that would see the October 25 vote in parliament serve as a trigger for a referendum.
But cabinet colleague Meir Sheetrit dismissed the idea.
"There is no question at the moment of holding a referendum. It will be problematic and will necessitate a hold-up to legislation and the prime minister wants no delays," said Sheetrit, who has been handed a role in the implementation of the disengagement.
The apparent splits over strategy in the cabinet means that Sharon still has much work to do if he wants a unified position from his government before MPs have their say.
The issue was expected to dominate discussion in Sunday's cabinet, the last occasion for ministers to come together before delivering their final verdict.
Opponents of the plan have said that a pullout would be interpreted as a victory by Gaza-based militant groups who have been conducting attacks against Israel over the course of the four-year Palestinian uprising.
Sharon's government, determined to deliver a knock-out blow to the likes of Hamas before the pullout, has come in for international criticism after around 130 Palestinians were killed in a near three-week offensive in northern Gaza designed to put an end to rocket attacks.
While Operation Days of Penitence was effectively wound up over the weekend, troops moved early Sunday into the Rafah region of southern Gaza.
Palestinian sources said four buildings that were home to some 65 people had been destroyed during the incursion, while four people had been moderately wounded.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said the forces went into the Rafah refugee camp, near the border with Egypt, to look for tunnels being used to smuggle arms and to hunt down Palestinian militants.
The Israeli forces came under fire from automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, but there were no casualties, she added.
A military source also said Palestinian forces had fired seven rockets into a Jewish settlement in the region, damaging a house and several vehicles but causing no casualties.