Talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and leaders of the settler movement, fiercely opposed to his Gaza pullout plan, have broken down.
The meeting at the premier's office, which lasted some two hours, failed to reconcile any of the differences between the Jewish settlers and their one-time champion.
Pinhas Wallerstein, a senior figure in the Yesha settlers council, described Sharon's uncompromising attitude in the talks as "disgraceful".
"It was one of the most disgraceful meetings with a prime minister of Israel," he was quoted as saying by Israeli television. "He
is determined to lead the country to a split."
al Jazeera
For contrast, the Haaretz version:
Settlers say meeting with PM on pullout was a 'disgrace'
Leaders of the settlement movement slammed Prime Minister Ariel Sharon following a meeting with him in Jerusalem on Sunday to discuss his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and parts of the northern West Bank.
Spokesman for the Yesha Council of Settlers and the secretary of the organization, Yehoshua Mor Yosef, described the meeting as a "disgrace". He said, "we met with an impervious prime minister who would not answer any of our questions. He is determined to lead the nation into a chasm whose end is unknown."
The settler leaders demanded that Sharon bring the disengagement plan before the public: either in the form of a referendum or by calling new elections. They said after the meeting that Sharon absolutely rejected this.
Mor Yosef added that the movement will continue to apply pressure on politicians to bring the disengagement plan to the public in order to prevent "a civil war." He added that, "Sharon is disengaging from the nation."
Haaretz