The Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is facing a vital vote of his far-right Likud party over the establishment of a Palestinian state. Sharon has appealed to his party not to rule out the possibility of a future Palestinian state.
His main rival in the right-wing Likud party, former premier Benjamin Netanyahu has called for the party to oppose a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.
Sharon urged a heated session of the Likud's central committee in Tel Aviv not to bring the matter to a vote. "The subject is not the order of the day. A decision on this would be dangerous," he said, after Netanyahu proposed a "clear" vote that would oblige the party to block any efforts to create a Palestinian state in the occupied territories.
Sharon said such a vote would damage Israel's vital ties with the United States, which advocates the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Sharon and Netanyahu clashed openly on the issue amid howls and boos from the audience. The prime minister proposed a vote supporting his government in its policy of "fighting against terrorism" while Netanyahu said the party must make a clear vote against the creation of a Palestinian state.
"The Likud cannot take a decision on this subject because the question will only arise after a complete halt to terrorism ... and only if there is a fundamental reform in the Palestinian Authority so that it is no long a corrupt dictatorship," Sharon said.
He once again accused Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat of "orchestrating terrorism" against Israel, reiterating that he could not be a peace partner. But Netanyahu said that the Likud party must decide once and for all that it is opposed to a Palestinian state.
"This must be clear: there will not be a Palestinian state west of the Jordan river because that would be a deadly threat to Israel," said Netanyahu.
Without naming Sharon directly, the hardline former premier also criticised Sharon's government for not having "thrown out" Arafat during the invasion of the West Bank's autonomous cities last month. By not doing so, Netanyahu told the Likud central committee session that Arafat had been allowed to walk free.
"What if we did have a Palestinian state, a Palestinian state which would freely bring in weapons, and which could operate freely with Syria and Iran?" said Netanyahu. "Imagine what would happen if a state was set up that the world recognised. It would be a huge threat to our existence. Not under Arafat, not today and not tomorrow," he said.
More than 1,000 of the 2,660 delegates of the right-wing party's committee attended the session, according to Israeli media reports.
The committee then went to a vote on the agendas from the competing politicians, with the results expected to be announced later Sunday evening.
Sharon has backed the creation of a limited state as part of a peace settlement.
A vote in favour of Netanyahu's motion would flying directly in the face of statements Sharon has made cautiously endorsing a Palestinian state, and tie his hands in future negotiations.
The resolution was first proposed last September, after Sharon angered party members by issuing a statement saying Israel wanted to give the Palestinians "the possibility of establishing a state."
In revolt against Sharon's unprecedented statement, considered the strongest indication yet by a Likud prime minister of accepting Palestinian statehood, party members proposed the current resolution.
The outcome of the vote is crucial for the party. If the resolution is passed, it will require all Likud representatives in the government to foil any political move that might lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported last week.
Such a resolution is intended to establish a binding principle and to be permanent, the paper said.
AFP