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Jerusalem
fter a string of embarrassing
defeats in his own party, Prime
Minister Ariel (Arik) Sharon's
victory in the election of key Likud offi-
cers raises the chances that he will be
able to broaden his government and
push through a promised withdrawal
from the West Bank and Gaza Strip —
thouah
b it's still not certain.
Likud rebels, who have been at the
forefront of the campaign against
Sharon's "disengagement" plan, put up
candidates for three top party posts. Had
they won, Sharon's political future
would have been bleak.
"The message of such a victory will be
that Sharon is finished," pundit Yossi
Verter wrote in Hdaretz ahead of the
Nov. 22 vote. "It would be very difficult
for Sharon to lead the Likud again in
the next Knesset elections."
Instead, the victory of three people
who aren't diehard Sharon loyalists but
are figures the prime minister feels he
can work with improves the prospects
for progress just as the United States and
Europe prepare for a reinvigorated peace
push.
The vote came as U.S. Secretary of
State Colin Powell arrived in the region
to see whether new chances for peace
have opened in the wake of Palestinian
Authority President Yasser Arafat's death,
and what the United States can do to
facilitate elections for a new Palestinian
leader.
Powell hinted that if the Palestinians
make real efforts to stop terrorism, the
United States would be ready to con-
tribute $20 million toward Palestinian
elections.
Sharon told Powell in Jerusalem that
Israel would do all it could to facilitate
the Palestinian electoral process. He said
Israel was ready for security coordination
with the Palestinians in the run-up to
the elections, would allow Arabs from
eastern Jerusalem to vote and would
allow full freedom of movement in the
Palestinian territories on election day.
After talks with the new Palestinian
leaders in Jericho, Powell said he had the
impression that they were "committed to
reform," suggesting that he expected
them to take steps, such as fighting ter-
ror, to get peace talks with Israel back on
track.
880610
Clearly, the Americans want to exploit
any chance there is to kick-start the
deadlocked process, and Powell sounded
an upbeat note after his talks in
Jerusalem and Jericho.
He spoke of a "new attitude on the
Palestinian side" and "flexibility in
Israel," and said, "There is enough for us
to move forward now
The Israelis also are upbeat. A senior
Israeli intelligence source told the
Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense
Committee that with the new
Palestinian leadership there is a good
chance for a "total change in Palestinian
political culture." If so, the Nov. 22
Likud vote improves the chance that
they will find an Israeli coalition able to
break the diplomatic deadlock.
The rebel candidates — Uzi Landau
for the key Central Committee chair-
manship, Michael Ratzon for the secre-
tariat and Gilad Erdan for the bureau —
were comfortably beaten by former
Public Security Minister Tzahi Hanegbi,
Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz and
Health Minister Danny Naveh. The
results show that the rebels do not con-
trol the 2,970-member Central
Committee, the Likud's highest deci-
sion-making body, when there is full
turnout.
Sharon lost a number of key Central
Committee votes when turnout was low.
Pundits agree that it was the huge 91
percent turnout that sank the rebels.
Analysts say the vote shows the rebels
control a hardcore of around 30 percent
of the Central Committee, and that
Sharon can count on about the same
number. The rest float and vote accord-
ing to the issue at hand.
That means Sharon theoretically could
win support for moves to widen his
coalition. The prime minister's losses in
the party began in May 2002, when the
Central Committee defied him and put
the party on record against the establish-
ment of a Palestinian state. Last May,
Sharon was defeated in a full party
membership vote on his disengagement
plan, with Landau, Ratzon and Erdan
leading the campaign against him.
Then, in August, the Central
Committee defied Sharon again, voting
against brina b ina b in Labor to bolster
Sharon's shaky government. The succes-
sive defeats heightened perceptions of
the prime minister's vulnerability inside
the party. I