05 February 2004	Thursday	13 Zilhaj 1424

TEL AVIV, Feb 4: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon risked the break-up of his right-wing coalition government after dropping a political bombshell on Monday by stating that "in the future there will be no Jews in Gaza".

The evacuation of the Gaza settlements forms part of a larger "disengagement plan" that the Israeli government has said it will start implementing in the summer if no progress is made in the peace process with the Palestinians.

The traditionally hawkish premier said he was determined to push through with the uprooting of the 7,500 Jewish settlers living in Gaza.

Although Mr Sharon was widely reported to have told his aides he would call elections in June or July if he is not given parliamentary backing for his plan, he confirmed that an option of a referendum was also under consideration. "The referendum is one of the options being envisaged, but there is also the option of early elections and the formation of a new government," a spokesman said. "All these options are being studied at the moment."

And the Israeli premier triggered even further controversy with plans to swap control of Arab Israeli towns in exchange for West Bank settlements if agreement could be reached with the Palestinians.

Speaking on a visit to the southern city of Ashkelon, Mr Sharon said the Gaza evacuations would be "without doubt painful". "But I have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to proceed with this step to assure the security of the state of Israel," he said. "I have taken this decision and I intend to apply it."

Palestinian premier Ahmed Qorei welcomed the Gaza proposal, telling reporters in the West Bank town of Ramallah: "We favourably welcome any process that leads to a withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territory."

Mr Sharon's number two, Ehud Olmert, refused to put a timetable on the Gaza pullout, but said it was becoming inevitable that Israel implement its own unilateral measures amid the continuing impasse in the roadmap agreed with the Palestinians.

"There's a growing realization in Israel and among Israel's friends ... that it (the roadmap) does not move forward and something has to be done," he said.

"My personal assessment is that some time around June or July this will become the unavoidable reality.

"To say by the end of the year that there will be no Jews in Gaza is too far at this point but we will have to start the process of unilateral moves by June or July."

Mr Olmert was convinced that the pullout would win backing of a majority in parliament and the cabinet, but admitted some coalition partners could quit. "There's always room in the cabinet for more partners or new partners," he added.

Infrastructure Minister Effi Eitam, whose hard-right National Religious Party is one of the junior coalition partners, spelled out his threat to quit.

"If Mr Sharon goes to Washington in the next few weeks to present this programme of dismantling Jewish communities in Gaza or even part of this programme, our departure from government would only be a question of time," he told public radio.

Mr Sharon retorted in an interview with the Maariv daily that if ministers "make the mistake of leaving the government, I will have to form another coalition, because there is a country that must be governed". But despite his bravado, 15 MPs in his own Likud party, gathered around minister without portfolio Uzi Landau, are known to be intent on making the party's institutions foil Mr Sharon's evacuation plan.

Opposition Labour leader Shimon Peres - elected to head the party for another two years on Tuesday - told party members he would support Mr Sharon's plans for Gaza, but without stating whether he would join a coalition government.

"If Sharon carries out his proposal I promise him our full support in the Knesset, whatever happens along the way," the former premier said.

SWAP: As members of his government struggled to digest his plans for Gaza, a spokesman for Mr Sharon also revealed plans to swap control of Arab towns in Israel with the Palestinians in exchange for West Bank settlements.

"Mr Sharon envisages territorial exchanges with the Palestinians as part of future permanent arrangements, under which Arab Israeli localities would pass under the sovereignty of the latter, while Jewish settlements (in the West Bank) would be integrated into Israeli territory," the spokesman said. "These exchanges can only take place if we have a Palestinian partner and terrorism is stifled," he added.

The proposal was criticized by one Arab Israeli MP, Ahmed Tibi, who said it would "make the divide even deeper" between the Arab minority and the Jewish majority in Israel.-AFP