JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon threatened Sunday to reshuffle his Cabinet to win approval for his plan to withdraw Jewish settlements and troops from the Gaza Strip, local media reported.
Sharon made his threat as the Cabinet debated his withdrawal proposal for the first time. The all-day session ended without a vote.
The proposal, defeated by voters from Sharon's Likud Party four weeks ago, calls for a unilateral pullout of all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four others in the northern West Bank.
Sharon warned that he was prepared to take far-reaching political steps, including dumping ministers who remain opposed to the plan, according to news reports after the closed-door meeting.
Sharon is battling furiously to rescue the proposal -- as well as his political future. Likud's rank and file overwhelmingly defeated the withdrawal plan in a May 2 vote.
Polls show that the Israeli public strongly favors abandoning the conflict-ridden Gaza Strip, home to 7,500 Jewish settlers and about 1.3 million Palestinians.
Last week, Sharon altered his proposal to call for a four-step pullout, beginning with the evacuation of three settlements in the Gaza Strip. But even that concession, which envisions a complete withdrawal by 2005, has failed to win over enough Likud ministers to ensure a Cabinet victory.
Before Sunday's meeting, Sharon appeared to be at least one vote shy of majority support on the 23-member Cabinet. Opponents included two ministers each from the National Union and the National Religious Party -- a pair of right-wing parties in the governing coalition. Hard-liners have threatened to bolt from Sharon's government if the unilateral pullout is approved.
Israeli media reported that the two National Union ministers appeared the most likely to be dismissed -- a move that could guarantee Cabinet approval for the plan.
Sharon criticized Transportation Minister Avigdor Lieberman of the National Union for calling last week for the removal of 90% of Arab citizens of Israel.
The second National Union minister, Tourism Minister Benny Elon, said he had received no hint of a possible dismissal.
"It seems that [Sharon] will create this majority one way or the other by a decision he will make over the coming days," Roni Milo, a former Likud minister, told Israel Radio.
