COMMANDING THE WAVES :

Sharon loses crucial party vote : The Likud meeting was a tempestuous affair (BBC, 12 May, 2002)

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has lost a key vote in the central committee of his Likud party over whether to allow a future Palestinian state.

The vote, a show of hands in which only a few delegates supported the prime minister, is seen as a major defeat for Mr Sharon and calls into question how strong his support in his party is.

Binyamin Netanyahu Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said he would challenge Mr Sharon's leadership of Likud, had called for a vote rejecting the concept of an independent Palestinian state arising from peace talks.

Mr Sharon had urged party members not to vote on the resolution saying it would be against Israel's interests to rule out any future settlement which included the creation of a Palestinian state.

But in a secret ballot party members voted by a margin of 669 to 465 for the vote to be allowed to go ahead.

After the stinging defeat Mr Sharon made a brief statement saying he would honour the decisions of his party's central committee.

We're big fans of Mr. Netanyahu, but on this issue we can't help feeling he's failed to learn the lesson of King Canute. Whether a good or a bad thing, there's going to be a Palestinian state--in effect there already is one--regardless of Likud's wishes. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 12, 2002 9:29 PM