JERUSALEM – Israel’s Cabinet approved a compensation plan Sunday for settlers who will be uprooted by Ariel Sharon’s plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, handing the prime minister an important victory two days before a showdown in parliament over the pullout.
The compensation program, approved 13-6, is a key part of Sharon’s “unilateral disengagement” plan, which calls for a complete withdrawal from Gaza and four West Bank settlements next year.
The Cabinet victory, though expected, gave Sharon important momentum in the run-up to a far more important test Tuesday, when the Knesset votes for the first time on the entire withdrawal plan. Sharon also is expected to win that vote, but he needs a strong majority to marginalize his opponents.
“The train has left the station; the implementation is under way,” government spokesman Raanan Gissin said of Sharon’s plan. “After the Knesset vote on Tuesday we will be in an irreversible process.”
Even if Sharon wins Tuesday’s vote, the Knesset and the Cabinet will have to vote, perhaps several more times, to approve actual evacuations, giving the plan’s highly organized opponents more chances to torpedo it.
Sunday’s Cabinet vote endorsed guidelines for compensating the estimated 8,800 settlers slated to be forced from their homes next year.
The plan would pay affected settler families $200,000 to $350,000 in compensation. Sharon hopes settlers will accept cash advances – which could total up to one-third of the final compensation payout – to leave well ahead of the official evacuation, heading off confrontations between settlers and troops.
The Cabinet also approved penalties, including prison terms, for settlers who resist evacuation orders. The guidelines will be written into a bill and sent to the Knesset.
Sharon says his plan is necessary to boost Israel’s security after four years of fighting with the Palestinians. Jewish settlers and their allies in the government accuse Sharon of caving in to Palestinian violence and fear the withdrawal will be the first step in a larger pullback.
Meanwhile, a team of Tunisian doctors examined Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat – who is recovering from the flu – and pronounced him OK despite speculation he might be suffering from something more serious.
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