Sharon wins pledge to secure Gaza plan

Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon won a pledge from the key Shinui opposition party on Saturday to back his budget, averting…

Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon won a pledge from the key Shinui opposition party on Saturday to back his budget, averting a possible government collapse and clearing the way for a Gaza withdrawal.

"Shinui's concern about implementing the withdrawal and continuing the peace process was the decisive factor," said party head Mr Yosef Lapid after a meeting with Mr Sharon at his ranch, where they watched a football match between Israel and Ireland.

Mr Sharon has been scrambling for support to get the budget passed by March 31. Failure would mean early elections.

The votes of the secular Shinui party should allow Mr Sharon to pass the budget despite a rebellion in his own right wing Likud by deputies opposed to evacuating Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip, where Palestinians want a state.

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The plan to remove all Gaza settlements and four of 120 in the West Bank this summer has Washington's blessing and has been touted as a possible step toward new Middle East peace talks.

Optimism for peace has grown since Israelis and Palestinians agreed a cease-fire last month. But settlers oppose ceding land captured in the 1967 war that they see as a biblical birthright, saying it would also reward Palestinian violence.

Opponents of a pullout had hoped to use the budget vote to at least force Mr Sharon to agree to their calls for a referendum on the withdrawal, if not bring him down.