Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said today he expected to win a crucial cabinet vote on his Gaza withdrawal plan this Sunday, parliamentarians said.
Deputies who attended a closed-door session of a key security committee quoted Mr Sharon as saying he was confident that a majority of cabinet ministers would endorse the plan, which has been opposed by some rebellious ministers.
Mr Ran Cohen, an opposition lawmaker, quoted Mr Sharon as saying he would present his Gaza withdrawal plan in its entirety instead of a watered-down version that had been proposed by some ministers as a compromise.
Mr Cohen said Mr Sharon told the panel, "he will bring the plan for a vote on Sunday and he has a majority to pass it".
Mr Sharon has had trouble mustering a majority for the initiative by cabinet ministers from his right-wing Likud party since the party's members rejected the withdrawal plan in a referendum last month.
He presented the plan to the cabinet last Sunday but lacked at least one vote to endorse it.
Mr Ehud Yatom, a Likud parliamentarian who opposes the withdrawal plan, told reporters: "Sharon says he has a majority to pass it in the cabinet on Sunday".