JERUSALEM, Feb 17: The Jewish settler movement defiantly rejected on Thursday the outcome of a vote that overcame the last major parliamentary hurdle to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan for Israel to withdraw from Gaza.
Israeli MPs voted by 59 votes to 40 late on Wednesday for a one billion dollar compensation package for the more than 8,000 settlers in Gaza and four other West Bank settlements who are due to be uprooted from their homes in the autumn.
Sharon's cabinet still has to vote on Sunday to formally approve the dismantling of settlements, but the premier is confident he now has a majority. However Pinhas Wallerstein, a leader of settlers' council, said the body would not acknowledge the outcome of Wednesday's vote.
"We don't recognize the validity of this law and we are ready to go to jail to prevent this transfer," he told Israeli radio. A council statement denounced the vote for "abandoning the values of Zionism and the security of Israel".
The settlers want the so-called disengagement plan to be put to a referendum, but Sharon has consistently rejected an idea he sees as a bid to derail his flagship project.
Having recently brought the centre-left Labour party into government, Sharon should easily win a majority on Sunday. His opponents' last chance of stopping the withdrawal is to try and muster support against the upcoming vote on the budget and thus bring down the government.
Fearing that extremist opponents will attempt a dramatic move to sabotage the pullout, Israeli police deployed reinforcements around the Al Aqsa mosque compound out of concern they could launch an attack there.
Police deployed an extra 40 extra officials in the area and have reportedly been given a million-dollar budget for electronic surveillance equipment, public radio said.
PALESTINIAN CABINET: On the Palestinian front, parliament officials said a new cabinet, led by current prime minister Ahmed Qorei, was to be presented for approval on Monday.
A statement from Qorei's office also said the prime minister had sent a letter to parliament speaker Rawhi Fattuh asking him to convene a special session next week to present the composition of a new government and obtain the approval of MPs. -AFP
