TEL AVIV, Israel -- The Knesset Finance Committee Monday allocated funds for the pullback from Gaza after earlier votes were postponed because the government would lose.
The committee approved a $6.78 million allocation for advance payments to settlers willing to leave their homes and $1.13 million for preparing the disengagement bill. The government's plan calls for a unilateral pullback, next year, from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank.
Committee members of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud Party split but the motion passed with the help of dovish opposition members, a Likud legislator who changed his mind in recent days and voted for the allocation and another committee member who reportedly went to the Dead Sea rather than show up for the vote.
Haaretz reported Monday's vote followed "intensive" lobbying by the prime minister's office and the Finance Ministry.
The Likud legislator who switched sides and voted for the motion, Daniel Benloulou, said he had voted 'yes' at the request of several Gaza Strip settlers who want to start a new life elsewhere.
