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April 15, 2005/Nisan 6 5765, Volume 57, No. 33
Netanyahu plots challenge to Sharon
LESLIE SUSSER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - After keeping a relatively low profile in recent months, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has launched a forceful bid for the national leadership, blasting Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and trumpeting his own economic policy as a way to make Israel one of the richest countries on earth within a decade.
Netanyahu's overt challenge to the Israeli prime minister could split the already troubled Likud Party, and is sure to have a major impact during and after the disengagement process from Gaza and the northern West Bank, scheduled to begin in July.
Netanyahu chose the moment of one of Sharon's greatest political successes to mount his attack. In successive days in late March, Sharon overcame the last two remaining parliamentary obstacles to his disengagement plan. On March 29, the Knesset voted down a call for a national referendum on disengagement, and on March 30 it passed the 2005 state budget.
Defeat for Sharon in either vote would have meant national elections and an indefinite deferment of disengagement. Victory meant that at least as far as the Knesset is concerned, there is nothing to stop Sharon from going through with the pullback in the summer.
Netanyahu made his move as soon as the budget votes were counted. Instead of celebrating the government victory, he took the floor to warn that Israel's recent economic success would continue only "if the prime minister cooperated with him."
From the Knesset, Netanyahu went to a Jerusalem conference organized by the right-wing Besheva newspaper, where he launched an unprecedentedly harsh attack on Sharon's disengagement plan. The policy of unilateral disengagement, he argued, was getting the international community and the Arabs used to the idea that Israel could be pressed to make concessions while receiving nothing in return.
As for the substance of Sharon's plan, Netanyahu said it was full of holes and would allow massive arms smuggling into Gaza. Finally, Netanyahu implied that he would be able to get a far better deal than Sharon on the West Bank after disengagement: Israel, he said, should simply take over the 75 percent or so of the West Bank that is uninhabited.
On April 10, the day Sharon flew to Texas for key meetings with President Bush and other U.S. officials, Netanyahu held a news conference to highlight his economic achievements.
"In the next two years Israel will enjoy the highest growth rate in the West," he declared.
Speaking of a grand economic vision, Netanyahu declared that "under his leadership" Israel could become one of the 10 richest countries in the world within a decade.
The subtext of Netanyahu's message is clear: Israel under him will prosper, whereas under Sharon the country has a dubious future.
If disengagement fails and a new round of fighting with the Palestinians erupts, Likud insiders say Netanyahu has worked himself into the perfect position to challenge Sharon for the leadership on a right-wing ticket, blaming the prime minister for the disengagement fiasco.
If disengagement succeeds, they say Netanyahu and Sharon could clash over what to do next, especially if Sharon proposes a second unilateral withdrawal in the West Bank - and this could split the party.
Alternatively, they say, Netanyahu might offer his cooperation if Sharon agrees to modify his political plans and hand over the reins of power at a specified date - such as 2008, when Sharon turns 80.
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