ARABS-ISRAEL - Aug 17 - Sharon Backs 1,000 New Jewish Homes In West Bank.

In a move that is immediately interpreted as a sop to rightwing rebels in his ruling Likud party, PM Ariel Sharon, approves 1,000 new Jewish homes in the West Bank. A 3,000-strong convention of Likud officials and activists are due to meet in Tel Aviv on Aug 18 for a potentially divisive vote on Sharon's proposed coalition partnership with the opposition Labour party. Amid predictions that the dispute could split Likud and force Israel into early elections, one minister warned the party to avoid the opportunity to "commit suicide on live television". (The crisis has been simmering since June, when Sharon lost his parliamentary majority after firing two far-right ministers opposed to his plan to evacuate all Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in the West Bank. Since then, Likud right-wingers have been trying to stymie an alliance with Labour that would give Sharon a majority for his withdrawal plan. They are confident of winning Aug 17 secret ballot, although Sharon is unlikely to regard the result as binding. He ignored a vote of the Likud rank-and-file in May that overwhelmingly rejected the pullout plan. His latest go-ahead for settlement expansion in the West Bank appeared unlikely to sway hardliners). Commenting on reports that Sharon had approved construction of 1,000 new homes in established West Bank settlements, Pinhas Wallerstein, a settlers' leader, said: "This is ugly manipulation, a political ploy and fraud aimed at the Likud convention". Only last week, Sharon put a hold on settlement expansion after the US expressed concern that it could damage the international peace "road map", which calls for a settlement freeze. If his latest gesture fails to sway the far right, it may also further dilute the dwindling enthusiasm of Labour for a coalition partnership with Likud. The Labour leader Shimon Peres, who turned 81 this week and expects to return as FM in a new government, was already under pressure from within his party to scrap coalition talks with Sharon. News of the resumption of settlement construction was expected to encourage the Labour left in its campaign to remain outside the coalition and support the Gaza withdrawal from the Knesset opposition benches. Likud education minister Limor Livnat, who gave the "suicide" warning on Israel Radio, said that if today's convention tried to tie Sharon's hands in coalition negotiations, he might have no option but to go for early elections in order to push ahead with the Gaza plan. Sharon's principal opponents are Uzi Landau, a Likud cabinet hardliner who is opposed to surrendering settlements, and FM Silvan Shalom, who risks losing his job to Peres. Sharon has warned Likud parliamentarians that, in the event of new elections, they might not retain all of the record 40 seats they won in the Knesset a year-and-a-half ago.