DISENGAGEMENT - POLITICAL FALLOUT & LIKUD MELTDOWN

Prime Minister Sharon’s ruling Likud party was battered from within this week; 27 of Likud’s 40 MKs in the 120 member House voted for the national referendum against the position of their own leader, Ariel Sharon. The Likud’s big guns lined up against Sharon: Finance Minister Bibi Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Education Minister Limor Livnat.

The referendum gambit was widely viewed as a device for delaying and perhaps totally tordepoeing the evacuation, which is officially rejected the Likud although it’s their leader’s idea. So how long can this abnormal, perhaps absurd situation go in inside the country’s ruling party?