J-10
06-15-2004, 07:12 AM
June 15, 2004 — By Mark Heinrich
JERUSALEM (*******) - Israel's attorney-general was widely expected to drop a bribery case against Ariel Sharon on Tuesday, shoring up the prime minister's historic plan to withdraw settlers from occupied Gaza.
Justice Ministry sources said Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz would issue his politically momentous decision at 5 p.m. after a flurry of media leaks that he had found insufficient evidence to warrant charging Sharon.
The chief prosecutor had recommended that Mazuz put Sharon on trial, which would probably force him from office, over alleged payments of hundreds of thousands of dollars to the premier's son Gilad by a land developer in the late 1990s.
Prosecutors investigated whether Sharon, foreign minister at the time, used his position to help the developer obtain approval for a Greek island resort from the Athens government.
The resort never got off the ground and Sharon denied breaking any laws. But Mazuz was expected to admonish Sharon over his conduct in the long-running scandal.
Closing the "Greek island affair" would strengthen Sharon's hand in pursuing his plan for "disengagement" from conflict with the Palestinians that he pushed through his cabinet in a 14-7 vote but at the cost of his coalition's stability.
Right-wing defections erased Sharon's parliamentary majority and the settlers vow to resist removal with the support of patrons in Sharon's divided Likud party and nationalist allies.
They aim to thwart what confidants of Sharon say will be an attempt this summer to remake his coalition with the opposition center-left Labour party, which favors "disengagement."
The plan entails evacuating 7,500 settlers from Gaza -- occupied along with the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war -- in four phases by late 2005, each requiring further votes.
Sharon aims to simultaneously consolidate Israel's hold on parts of the West Bank where more than 230,000 settlers live. Palestinians welcome "disengagement" but fear its West Bank element will deprive them of land they want for a viable state.
ISRAEL MAY SHIFT GAZE SETTLERS TO WEST BANK
Security sources said on Tuesday Israel was considering moving Gaza settlers to an expanded West Bank settlement bloc despite possible objections from Washington whose "road map" peace plan calls for a "freeze" on settlement-building. The daily Maariv said Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered plans drafted for hundreds of new homes at Gush Etzion, 20 km (12 miles) south of Jerusalem, for transferred Gaza settlers.
Mofaz's office said he had visited Gush Etzion for discussions on Monday but declined further comment. A senior Israeli security source confirmed the Gush Etzion idea was "being studied" but had not yet received approval. The "road map" plan, stymied by persistent violence on both sides, prescribes a hold on settlement construction in keeping with its vision of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
But that provision has been called into question by President Bush's unprecedented assurance to Sharon in April that Israel could keep some West Bank land where some major settlement blocs lie. "The U.S. administration supports the road map," a U.S. official said in response to the Maariv report. "Exactly what constitutes a settlement freeze is a matter of discussion."
Palestinian officials bemoaned the gist of the report.
"The whole idea was to turn a Gaza withdrawal into an opportunity (for peace)," Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat told *******. "If Mr Mofaz takes settlers from Gaza to the West Bank, that would kill the idea."
Palestinian militants detonated an explosives-laden car outside the isolated Gaza settlement of Netzarim on Tuesday but there were no Israeli casualties, military sources said.
Militant factions have tried to crank up attacks in Gaza in hopes of claiming victory in any pullout. Sharon aims to smash the militants with raids and air strikes to prevent just that. (additional reporting by Dan Williams and Nidal al-Mughrabi)
From (http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/*******20040615_78.html)
JERUSALEM (*******) - Israel's attorney-general was widely expected to drop a bribery case against Ariel Sharon on Tuesday, shoring up the prime minister's historic plan to withdraw settlers from occupied Gaza.
Justice Ministry sources said Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz would issue his politically momentous decision at 5 p.m. after a flurry of media leaks that he had found insufficient evidence to warrant charging Sharon.
The chief prosecutor had recommended that Mazuz put Sharon on trial, which would probably force him from office, over alleged payments of hundreds of thousands of dollars to the premier's son Gilad by a land developer in the late 1990s.
Prosecutors investigated whether Sharon, foreign minister at the time, used his position to help the developer obtain approval for a Greek island resort from the Athens government.
The resort never got off the ground and Sharon denied breaking any laws. But Mazuz was expected to admonish Sharon over his conduct in the long-running scandal.
Closing the "Greek island affair" would strengthen Sharon's hand in pursuing his plan for "disengagement" from conflict with the Palestinians that he pushed through his cabinet in a 14-7 vote but at the cost of his coalition's stability.
Right-wing defections erased Sharon's parliamentary majority and the settlers vow to resist removal with the support of patrons in Sharon's divided Likud party and nationalist allies.
They aim to thwart what confidants of Sharon say will be an attempt this summer to remake his coalition with the opposition center-left Labour party, which favors "disengagement."
The plan entails evacuating 7,500 settlers from Gaza -- occupied along with the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war -- in four phases by late 2005, each requiring further votes.
Sharon aims to simultaneously consolidate Israel's hold on parts of the West Bank where more than 230,000 settlers live. Palestinians welcome "disengagement" but fear its West Bank element will deprive them of land they want for a viable state.
ISRAEL MAY SHIFT GAZE SETTLERS TO WEST BANK
Security sources said on Tuesday Israel was considering moving Gaza settlers to an expanded West Bank settlement bloc despite possible objections from Washington whose "road map" peace plan calls for a "freeze" on settlement-building. The daily Maariv said Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered plans drafted for hundreds of new homes at Gush Etzion, 20 km (12 miles) south of Jerusalem, for transferred Gaza settlers.
Mofaz's office said he had visited Gush Etzion for discussions on Monday but declined further comment. A senior Israeli security source confirmed the Gush Etzion idea was "being studied" but had not yet received approval. The "road map" plan, stymied by persistent violence on both sides, prescribes a hold on settlement construction in keeping with its vision of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
But that provision has been called into question by President Bush's unprecedented assurance to Sharon in April that Israel could keep some West Bank land where some major settlement blocs lie. "The U.S. administration supports the road map," a U.S. official said in response to the Maariv report. "Exactly what constitutes a settlement freeze is a matter of discussion."
Palestinian officials bemoaned the gist of the report.
"The whole idea was to turn a Gaza withdrawal into an opportunity (for peace)," Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat told *******. "If Mr Mofaz takes settlers from Gaza to the West Bank, that would kill the idea."
Palestinian militants detonated an explosives-laden car outside the isolated Gaza settlement of Netzarim on Tuesday but there were no Israeli casualties, military sources said.
Militant factions have tried to crank up attacks in Gaza in hopes of claiming victory in any pullout. Sharon aims to smash the militants with raids and air strikes to prevent just that. (additional reporting by Dan Williams and Nidal al-Mughrabi)
From (http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/*******20040615_78.html)