[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: This was the last time that the Likud Part held a
vote on the issue.]

Sharon loses key party vote
Arafat: Palestinians ready to live 'side by side' with Israel
May 12, 2002 Posted: 10:30 PM EDT (0230 GMT)
http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/05/12/mideast/index.html

TEL AVIV, Israel (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a
political defeat Sunday, as his own Likud party voted to restate its
opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state, despite his strong
objections.

The party's central committee voted almost unanimously for the resolution,
which was proposed by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his main
political rival.

Sharon tried to block the vote, saying any decision would be "dangerous to
the state of Israel and will only intensify the pressure on us."

But around midnight, at the end of a stormy Likud party meeting, 59 percent
of the 2,600 voting members decided by secret ballot to oppose Sharon and
vote for Netanyahu's proposal.
...