By Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondent
Senior Likud members failed late Saturday night to forge a compromise over a resolution opposing the road map peace plan, which is to be presented at a meeting of the Likud convention in Jerusalem on Sunday afternoon.
At the center of the controversy is a resolution containing five points and which has been drawn up by convention chairman and Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz, who voted against the road map in the government. Katz, along with other Likud opponents of the U.S.-backed peace plan, hope to tie Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon's hands in future negotiations. The five points in Katz's plan are:
* retaining Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem; * retaining and strengthening settlement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; * retaining Israeli control of security zones and the Jordan Valley; * holding Arab nations responsible for dealing with Palestinian refugees and opposing the Palestinian claim of the right of return for refugees; * demanding an immediate end to terror and incitement.
Army Radio reported Sunday that Sharon was refusing to commit to two of the five points - strengthening Jewish settlement in the West Bank and Gaza, and retaining security zones.
The head of the prime minister's bureau, Uri Shani, said that Sharon could not agree to the wording on the settlement issue because it contradicted commitments he made in his speech at the summit in Aqaba last Wednesday.
Sharon is expected to be the last speaker at the convention, which will be held at the Binyanei Ha'uma congress hall in Jerusalem. He is expected to address the convention in the 8 P.M. prime time spot. Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who abstained in the government vote on the road map but is highly critical of the plan, is expected to be the second last speaker.
Katz and Sharon confidant Uri Shani met Saturday night with Likud legal adviser Eitan Haberman to try to come up with wording for a resolution that could win the support of Sharon as well as Likud MKs who oppose the road map. But the meeting ended inconclusively after right-wing groups demanded the proposal include elements that contradict Sharon's speech at Aqaba.
Katz, who has been discussing the issue over the last few days with senior Likud leaders and the heads of right-wing groups, was under the impression before the meeting that it would be possible to bring the compromise proposal to a vote.
Katz said on Saturday that the new proposal "will allow me to hold onto my principles, to hold onto the principles of democracy and the unity of Likud. No one will get everything he wants, but it will give the Likud a lot of power."
Likud leaders close to Sharon have been trying to play down the importance of the anticipated demonstrations at the convention and said that the vote on the resolution proposal has no practical importance and can only help the prime minister, not damage him.
Last year, Netanyahu pushed through a proposal in the Likud opposing the creation of a Palestinian state, despite Sharon's opposition. The vote, however, ultimately worked in favor of Sharon, who came off looking moderate in the eyes of the general public and the United States.