Israelis back Gaza pullout

2005-03-04 11:43

Jerusalem - Two-thirds of Israelis would back the government's plan to leave the occupied Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements if it was put to referendum, according to two opinion polls published on Friday.

Nearly 69% of respondents said they would vote for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan, which is scheduled to begin in July, according to a survey in the liberal Haaretz newspaper.

Just under 28% said they would vote against the plan, with the remaining three percent undecided.

Another survey in the top-selling Yediot Aharonot said 66% of Israelis would back the evacuation compared to 26% who were opposed.

The polls were published the day after Sharon's right-wing Likud party central committee voted overwhelmingly in favour of a national plebiscite on his controversial plans.

Despite outrage from settlers and ultra nationalists, the government is set to evacuate the 8 000 Jewish settlers living in Gaza and several hundred living in four isolated enclaves in the northern West Bank as of July 20.

Sharon has flatly refused any such referendum and the Likud party resolution is non-binding on the premier.

Most Israelis, 71%, also believe that other settlements in the West Bank should be evacuated in the future, said the poll in Yediot.

The survey also boosted Sharon's popularity, with 61% of respondents saying the prime minister was the "leader Israel needs at the moment" compared to 39% convinced otherwise.

At the Likud meeting late on Thursday, Sharon reaffirmed his determination to implement his disengagement plan, regardless of domestic opposition.

The polls were carried out by two independent institutes, each interviewing 500 people. Their margin of error is 4.5%.

- AFP