Steve Savicki
08-07-2005, 09:33 AM
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050807/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_netanyahu
JERUSALEM - Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resigned from his post Sunday to protest next week's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, a ministry spokesman said.
Netanyahu, seen as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's biggest political rival within the Likud Party, submitted a letter of resignation during the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday, said the Finance Ministry spokesman, Eli Yosef. The resignation will take effect within 48 hours.
Netanyahu's dramatic decision was unlikely to affect Israel's plan to begin removing some 9,000 settlers from their homes, starting in days. All 21 Israeli settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank are marked for dismantling.
Netanyahu, a former prime minister and political hard-liner, has long been conflicted over the Gaza withdrawal. He has voted in favor of the pullout in the Cabinet but also tried to torpedo the plan in parliamentary maneuvers.
He submitted his resignation just before the Cabinet was to give formal, final approval to the first stage of the withdrawal — the dismantling of three isolated Gaza settlements.
JERUSALEM - Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resigned from his post Sunday to protest next week's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, a ministry spokesman said.
Netanyahu, seen as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's biggest political rival within the Likud Party, submitted a letter of resignation during the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday, said the Finance Ministry spokesman, Eli Yosef. The resignation will take effect within 48 hours.
Netanyahu's dramatic decision was unlikely to affect Israel's plan to begin removing some 9,000 settlers from their homes, starting in days. All 21 Israeli settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank are marked for dismantling.
Netanyahu, a former prime minister and political hard-liner, has long been conflicted over the Gaza withdrawal. He has voted in favor of the pullout in the Cabinet but also tried to torpedo the plan in parliamentary maneuvers.
He submitted his resignation just before the Cabinet was to give formal, final approval to the first stage of the withdrawal — the dismantling of three isolated Gaza settlements.