Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Monday that he favors a three-week delay in Israel’s planned summer pullout from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements because of a Jewish mourning period marking the destruction of biblical temples.
A postponement could give the government more time to plan for the withdrawal but could also give Jewish extremists more time to organize resistance.
“I’m positively inclined toward this. We simply have to make it as easy as possible,” Sharon said Monday. Israel TV–without citing any sources–said Sharon had decided to delay the pullout; Sharon made no announcement Monday.
Military officials involved in preparations said they opposed any change in the timeline.
Israel, meanwhile, announced plans to build 50 more homes in a West Bank settlement–a week after President Bush said such construction should stop.
