Post by Salem6 on Jan 6, 2004 9:10:31 GMT
Members of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's right-wing Likud party booed him at a key meeting on Monday.
Mr Sharon was addressing the party's central committee for the first time since outlining plans envisaging the removal of some Jewish settlements.
Sharon has alienated members of his party
He insisted the scheme was "the best plan for (Israeli) security. This is my plan and I will see it carried out."
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, meanwhile, has dropped plans to meet Mr Sharon in the near future.
Party anger
Mr Sharon confronted his critics in a televised speech at the party meeting.
One delegate waved a banner proclaiming the withdrawal plan "a prize for terror".
Unfazed, Mr Sharon responded: "You keep waving your banners and I will keep my responsibility of bringing about peace and security to this land."
Last month, Mr Sharon angered Likud members when he said Jewish settlements would be removed as part of unilateral measures by Israel if peace talks with the Palestinians remain deadlocked.
The party has traditionally championed the right of Jews to settle in the West Bank and Gaza - territories in which the Palestinians are seeking to establish a state.
The 3,000-member central committee is a stronghold of supporters of Mr Sharon's main political rival, Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Delegates were to debate a motion proposing that any major decisions Mr Sharon makes will require their approval.
While praising Israeli settlers as "courageous and loyal to Zionism", Mr Sharon told the conference that Israel would "have to give up some of the Jewish settlements" in the context of a peace plan with the Palestinians.
And, he added, "If the Palestinians continue to reject our peace offers... we will disengage from them politically and militarily and prevent any contact between them and us."
Summit shelved
The Palestinian prime minister said before the Likud meeting that a long-anticipated anticipated meeting with Mr Sharon would not take place soon.
"I am sorry to say [Israeli] destruction continues, aggression continues, bombardment continues and I don't think that in this situation that any meeting will have significant results," he told reporters.
"We are not looking for a meeting that will be a photo opportunity."
Mr Qurei and Mr Sharon have recently expressed willingness to meet each other for the first time since Mr Qurei was appointed in September, 2003.
In the latest violence, a 17-year-old Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli troops in Nablus on Monday.
Taj Saif's family said he was killed returning from collecting junk, while the Israeli army said it shot a Palestinian who threw a firebomb.
Video:-
The BBC's Chris Morris
"When the prime minister came to speak he was as robust as ever"
news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/39705000/rm/_39705097_sharon01_morris_vi.ram
Mr Sharon was addressing the party's central committee for the first time since outlining plans envisaging the removal of some Jewish settlements.
Sharon has alienated members of his party
He insisted the scheme was "the best plan for (Israeli) security. This is my plan and I will see it carried out."
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, meanwhile, has dropped plans to meet Mr Sharon in the near future.
Party anger
Mr Sharon confronted his critics in a televised speech at the party meeting.
One delegate waved a banner proclaiming the withdrawal plan "a prize for terror".
Unfazed, Mr Sharon responded: "You keep waving your banners and I will keep my responsibility of bringing about peace and security to this land."
Last month, Mr Sharon angered Likud members when he said Jewish settlements would be removed as part of unilateral measures by Israel if peace talks with the Palestinians remain deadlocked.
The party has traditionally championed the right of Jews to settle in the West Bank and Gaza - territories in which the Palestinians are seeking to establish a state.
The 3,000-member central committee is a stronghold of supporters of Mr Sharon's main political rival, Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Delegates were to debate a motion proposing that any major decisions Mr Sharon makes will require their approval.
While praising Israeli settlers as "courageous and loyal to Zionism", Mr Sharon told the conference that Israel would "have to give up some of the Jewish settlements" in the context of a peace plan with the Palestinians.
And, he added, "If the Palestinians continue to reject our peace offers... we will disengage from them politically and militarily and prevent any contact between them and us."
Summit shelved
The Palestinian prime minister said before the Likud meeting that a long-anticipated anticipated meeting with Mr Sharon would not take place soon.
"I am sorry to say [Israeli] destruction continues, aggression continues, bombardment continues and I don't think that in this situation that any meeting will have significant results," he told reporters.
"We are not looking for a meeting that will be a photo opportunity."
Mr Qurei and Mr Sharon have recently expressed willingness to meet each other for the first time since Mr Qurei was appointed in September, 2003.
In the latest violence, a 17-year-old Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli troops in Nablus on Monday.
Taj Saif's family said he was killed returning from collecting junk, while the Israeli army said it shot a Palestinian who threw a firebomb.
Video:-
The BBC's Chris Morris
"When the prime minister came to speak he was as robust as ever"
news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/39705000/rm/_39705097_sharon01_morris_vi.ram