By Ravi Nessman
The Associated Press
Jerusalem – Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s narrow defeat of a challenge within his Likud Party gave him time to decide his political future, but he may still bolt the party if it refuses to support his political program, an adviser said Tuesday.
Israel pressed ahead with its offensive against Palestinian militants, and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said the army would attack them relentlessly to force them to stop firing rockets at Israeli towns.
Israeli aircraft unleashed a barrage of missiles against targets throughout Gaza City early today, knocking out power and plunging the city into darkness. No injuries were immediately reported.
Missiles landed in at least three locations, including the impoverished Tufah neighborhood and the Bureij refugee camp, just south of the city. One airstrike hit a two-story building used by the ruling Fatah party. The offices provide tutoring lessons to school children and cash and food assistance to families in Tufah.
Tensions in the region were further inflamed when Hamas militants released a video of a bound and blindfolded Israeli businessman whom they had kidnapped and later killed – an attack that appeared to signal a new tactic in the militants’ fight against Israel.
The flare-up in violence had been expected to harm Sharon’s chances in Monday’s vote in the Likud central committee, where party hard-liners hoped to punish Sharon for his withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Sharon prevailed with a slim margin. His allies had said that if he lost, he might leave Likud, call early elections and run as head of a new centrist party.
Sharon might still bolt the party if it refuses to back his major policies, said Lior Horev, Sharon’s political adviser.
“Either the party stands behind him or he has to choose a different way in order to push forward his agenda,” Horev said.
Sharon’s main rival, Benjamin Netanyahu, insisted he would prevail in party primaries next year by tapping into the deep vein of anger among party members who feel the prime minister betrayed Likud’s nationalist roots.
