Israeli Government Split

Israel's minister of diaspora and Jerusalem affairs, Natan Sharansky, has submitted his resignation in protest at Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plans to withdrawal Israeli troops from Palestinian territories.

"Every concession in the peace process made by the Israeli side must be accompanied by democratic reform on the Palestinian side. Waiving this condition will weaken the chances of building a free Palestinian society and support terror", Sharansky wrote in his letter of resignation.

Before, several other cabinet ministers had already quit the government, namely housing minister Efi Eitam, deputy minister of religious affairs Izhak Levi, deputy minister of education Zvi Gendel.

Sharansky said he was not going to attend cabinet meetings any more.

"TIME Magazine" has put N. Sharansky at a higher place than Ariel Sharon in its list of the 100 people who most influenced the course of world history in recent years. US president George Bush, having read Sharansky's book "The Case for Democracy", had invited him for a private talk. The president himself, who was greatly impressed by N. Sharansky's book, had probably not quite grasped its idea, as he was greatly surprised to find that N. Sharansky is against Sharon's plans for Israeli pullout from Gaza.