Lapid working on cabinet compromise to pass pullout plan

Justice Minister Yosef Lapid is working to bring about an agreement between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the revised disengagement plan in an attempt to get it passed in the cabinet.

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Lapid said the Likud members' decision does not commit his Shinui party to stop supporting the disengagement plan. He said the positions of Sharon and Netanyahu must be brought closer, especially since the finance minister has agreed to the first stage of Sharon's revised plan, which calls for the removal of three isolated settlements in the Gaza Strip.

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PM ready to shake up cabinet to pass plan
Sharon warned the cabinet Sunday that he was willing to change the makeup of the coalition so as to pass the plan.

Speaking during the cabinet debate on the new version of his plan, Sharon warned that he was ready to take "unprecedented political steps," including the dismissal of ministers.

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