Disengagement

Despite the outcome of yesterday's Likud referendum, Sharon's engagement policy doesn't seem to be dead. Ma'ariv quote White House sources as saying they still expect the Gaza withdrawal plan to be implemented. Ha'aretz reports that Sharon is meeting with Cabinet members about a new withdrawal plan. Sharon is portrayed as blaming Netanyahu for the plan's defeat, but judging from the margins, it seems more likely Likud activists are simply unwilling to back off their hard-line/nationalist agenda. Whether this is true of all Likud voters, however, remains unknown - I get the feeling this was kind of like Kerry trying to get support for a hawkish foreign policy through a referendum of Daily Kos commenters. Labor and Meretz are pushing for withdrawal from some settlements anyway.