sharonbn
11-17-2004, 11:52 PM
Poll: 61% of Israeli public supports Gaza pullout plan
A solid majority of the Israeli public - and among Likud voters - supports Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, according to a Haaretz poll conducted by Dialog under the supervision of Chamille Fuchs. Some 61 percent expressed support for the plan even after the death of Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat.
Of those who support the plan, 36.4 percent were in favor of continuing with its implementation, while negotiating with the Palestinian Authority's new leadership at the same time, while 25.4 percent said Israel must push ahead with the plan without changing it. This position is widely supported by the voters of Labor, Shinui and Yahad, but also by some 60 percent of the Likud's voters.
Less than one-third of the public, some 29 percent, believes that following Arafat's death the plan should be withheld until a new Palestinian leadership is formed. Most of those who do think so are among the right wing and ultra-Orthodox parties.
This is a positive sign for Sharon, who last week rejected Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal "to reexamine the disengagement plan" until a new Palestinian leadership is formed.
The poll indicates that a decisive majority - some 80 percent of the public - objects to the release of Marwan Barghouti from Israeli prison, if he is elected head of the Palestinian Authority.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/503076.html
Soldiers sign petition against evacuating settlements
A group known as Defensive Shield has collected the signatures of 3,000 soldiers, mostly reservists, who have declared they will not evacuate settlements under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan.
The group is headed by Noam Livnat, the brother of Education Minister Limor Livnat Livnat, of the Joseph's Tomb Yeshiva, says that when he has 10,000 signatories, the petition will be presented to the prime minister and chief of staff.
Defensive Shield has also stated that it plans to take civil action against any officers who participate in the evacuation of settlements. The heads of Defensive Shield also plan to canvass for support among the Druze community, many members of which serve in the Israel Defense Forces and Border Police.
Livnat says their aim is to prevent the order to evacuate from being issued in advance and to refuse to take part indirectly in any act of uprooting settlers including refusing to do reserve duty to take the place of a soldier who has been sent to evacuate settlers.
In Gush Katif itself, meanwhile, another petition is circulating. It states that if the disengagement plan is implemented, those who sign, their children and grandchildren and other family members will refrain from any kind of service in the security forces. The petition appears on the Internet.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/503078.html
A solid majority of the Israeli public - and among Likud voters - supports Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, according to a Haaretz poll conducted by Dialog under the supervision of Chamille Fuchs. Some 61 percent expressed support for the plan even after the death of Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat.
Of those who support the plan, 36.4 percent were in favor of continuing with its implementation, while negotiating with the Palestinian Authority's new leadership at the same time, while 25.4 percent said Israel must push ahead with the plan without changing it. This position is widely supported by the voters of Labor, Shinui and Yahad, but also by some 60 percent of the Likud's voters.
Less than one-third of the public, some 29 percent, believes that following Arafat's death the plan should be withheld until a new Palestinian leadership is formed. Most of those who do think so are among the right wing and ultra-Orthodox parties.
This is a positive sign for Sharon, who last week rejected Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal "to reexamine the disengagement plan" until a new Palestinian leadership is formed.
The poll indicates that a decisive majority - some 80 percent of the public - objects to the release of Marwan Barghouti from Israeli prison, if he is elected head of the Palestinian Authority.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/503076.html
Soldiers sign petition against evacuating settlements
A group known as Defensive Shield has collected the signatures of 3,000 soldiers, mostly reservists, who have declared they will not evacuate settlements under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan.
The group is headed by Noam Livnat, the brother of Education Minister Limor Livnat Livnat, of the Joseph's Tomb Yeshiva, says that when he has 10,000 signatories, the petition will be presented to the prime minister and chief of staff.
Defensive Shield has also stated that it plans to take civil action against any officers who participate in the evacuation of settlements. The heads of Defensive Shield also plan to canvass for support among the Druze community, many members of which serve in the Israel Defense Forces and Border Police.
Livnat says their aim is to prevent the order to evacuate from being issued in advance and to refuse to take part indirectly in any act of uprooting settlers including refusing to do reserve duty to take the place of a soldier who has been sent to evacuate settlers.
In Gush Katif itself, meanwhile, another petition is circulating. It states that if the disengagement plan is implemented, those who sign, their children and grandchildren and other family members will refrain from any kind of service in the security forces. The petition appears on the Internet.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/503078.html