ISRAEL: Embattled Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon got some much-needed good news ahead of a crucial cabinet vote yesterday on his revised withdrawal plan, when media outlets reported yesterday he would likely escape indictment in a bribery scandal that has threatened his political future
Several newspapers and TV stations quoted legal sources close to Attorney General Mr Menachem Mazuz, who must decide whether to charge the prime minister, saying that not enough evidence exists to indict Mr Sharon. But the sources also said that Mr Mazuz had yet to reach a final decision and that this was only expected by mid-June.
Deputy Prime Minister Mr Ehud Olmert said yesterday a narrow majority exists in favour of the new withdrawal plan, which calls for a staged pull-out from the Gaza Strip and part of the northern West Bank. The original plan, which called for a single-stage withdrawal from these areas, was resoundingly defeated in a referendum in Mr Sharon's Likud party earlier this month. According to the plan that will go to the cabinet, all 21 settlements in Gaza and four in the northern West Bank are to be evacuated in four phases, by the end of 2005.
Despite Mr Olmert's optimism, the vote is expected to be tight and the fact that Mr Sharon now looks likely to avoid prosecution will not necessarily help him swing recalcitrant ministers behind his revised plan. Likud ministers who opposed the original plan are unlikely to support Mr Sharon just because the attorney general is now expected to close the bribery case.
The prime minister faces allegations of receiving a bribe from a real estate magnate, Mr David Appel, in the form of a contract worth hundreds of thousands of dollars that Mr Appel signed with the prime minister's son, Gilad, for working as a consultant in the development of a resort on a Greek island in the 1990s. The quid pro quo: Mr Sharon is alleged to have helped Mr Appel win Greek government support for the project, while Mr Appel, a power broker in the Likud, is accused of providing support for Mr Sharon in party leadership primaries back in 1999.
If Mr Sharon loses Sunday's vote, it will be a further blow to his political future. Even if he wins, he could face some serious hurdles, including a possible rebellion inside his own party if he is seen to be disregarding the Likud poll on his original plan.