Sharon Gaza plan defeat seen as big loss for Bush

President Bush took a huge diplomatic gamble last month when he forcefully embraced Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from Gaza and handed Israel key concessions on a final peace deal. The backlash in Arab and European countries was especially intense, but administration officials argued Sharon's plan carried the seeds of a breakthrough in the stalled peace process.

Now, the Likud Party's overwhelming rejection of that plan has left the administration's credibility in the Middle East in tatters. The tilt toward Israel will not soon be forgotten by the Arab world, but it will be harder for the administration to claim that Bush's support of Sharon made a difference.

el - It was a blow but while it called for a Gaza withdrawal, which nearly everyone wants, it called for no right of return and permanent west bank settlements. I can't believe Palestine will ever accept those.

Samuel Lewis, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, said the vote Sunday "is an embarrassment diplomatically" for the Bush administration and "now they have the worst of both worlds."

He faulted the administration for giving in to many of Sharon's demands, including saying that in a final deal some Israel settlements in the West Bank would be retained and that Palestinians would have to give up their right to return to lands they lost during Israel's war of independence. Instead, he said, Bush should have given just general support to the plan.