A top minister in Ariel Sharon's government has called "problematic" his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip should a US-backed peace plan fail.
Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose support for Sharon's "disengagement" plan is crucial for cabinet approval, levelled his criticism during a meeting with US envoys on Friday, the finance ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
"Netanyahu emphasised that the plan being considered is problematic and complicated and he still doesn't see that it provides the answers of Palestinian reciprocation vital for Israel's security," it said.
Sharon, who is attempting to win Washington's backing to remove Jewish settlements and possibly withdraw troops from the Gaza Strip should the US-backed peace "road map" remain stalled, also met the envoys.
Sharon's proposals include completing a massive barrier in the West Bank. Israel says the barrier is intended to keep suicide bombers out, but Palestinians call it a land grab.
Netanyahu's criticism comes after sources said Sharon planned to summon army chief Lieutenant-General Moshe Alon to explain reported remarks predicting that a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza would fuel more Palestinian militant attacks.
Netanyahu, 54, was Sharon's main rival for the head of the right-wing Likud last year and still commands support in the party. He is viewed as biding his time to take over party leadership once Sharon, 76, retires.
Objections to the plan by the influential Netanyahu could strengthen the opposition to it from Sharon's pro-settler coalition partners ahead of a meeting the prime minister hopes to hold with US President George W. Bush in late March or early April.
Settlers accuse Sharon, once considered the godfather of the settlement movement, of betraying their cause.
In an effort to keep the settler opposition in check, Sharon is seeking US support for the annexation of major West Bank settlement blocs in return for an evacuation of Gaza, political sources said on Friday.
The sources said Sharon could not overcome right-wing resistance in his coalition to ceding 17 small, isolated Jewish enclaves in Gaza unless Israel could cement its hold on larger West Bank blocs seen as strategically vital.
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