JERUSALEM — In a historic vote, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon won the approval of his Cabinet Sunday for an international peace plan that envisions the creation of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The vote marked the first time that an Israeli government has formally affirmed the Palestinians' right to statehood, let alone a proposed state with borders that are based roughly on territories Israel seized during the 1967 Mideast war.
By a vote of 12-7, with four abstentions, Sharon overcame the opposition of far-right ministers and members of his right-wing Likud Party following a stormy, six-hour debate.
"The moment has arrived to say 'yes' to the Americans. The time has come to divide this tract of land between us and the Palestinians," Sharon told the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth on Sunday.
"It was a historic day," Tsipi Livni, the minister for absorption, said after the vote. "It was not an easy vote for a right-wing coalition. Maybe it's a sign of hope."
The Cabinet vote cleared the way for a possible three-way meeting — as early as next week — between Sharon, his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas and President Bush.
"The decision . . . was as difficult as crossing the Red Sea," Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said of the vote. Those opposed, including ministers from Sharon's Likud Party, said they feared the plan endangered Israel's existence.
Palestinian officials welcomed the Cabinet approval and said they expect Washington to keep its pledge to them that the peace plan — or "road map" as it is known — will not be changed to accommodate Israel.
"We look positively on this decision. This is what the Palestinian Authority was asking for since we received the road map," Information Minister Nabil Amr said. "The Israelis must implement their obligations without preconditions and without any changes."
The White House praised Sunday's Cabinet decision, calling it "an important step forward." The vote now sets the stage for a possible Israeli-Palestinian summit attended by Bush.
The Israeli prime minister had been under intense pressure from the Bush administration to join Abbas in endorsing the three-phase peace blueprint. White House officials told Sharon's chief of staff Dov Weisglass during meetings in Washington last week that Israelis risked being perceived as "refuseniks" unless Sharon also adopted the plan.
On Friday, Sharon complied after the White House announced it would "address" Israel's reservations about the road map as the plan was being implemented. Secretary of State Colin Powell acknowledged that the vague formulation was intentional.
" 'Address' does not mean make a judgment," Powell told reporters in Paris on Friday. "It's a nice broad term that more adequately reflects what we are anticipating we will have to do as we go down the road."
With Washington's assurances in hand, Sharon, who has ridiculed the road map, grudgingly pressed the cabinet on Sunday to approve it. While fellow Likud member Uzi Landau branded the road map "a recipe for terror," the prime minister told cabinet ministers he was "not enthusiastic" about the blueprint but that it was "the best alternative available."
Sharon also told his Cabinet that after nearly 32 months of violence, an improvement of Israel's staggering economy depended on approving the peace plan.
"There is a clear link between our political and economic situation," Israel Radio quoted him as saying. "The more progress we make in the peace process, the more our economic situation will improve."
The government announced earlier this week that 281,400 Israelis — or 10.8 percent of the work force — were unemployed during the first quarter of 2003.
"There would have been economic catastrophe if the Mideast road map had not been approved," Justice Minister Yosef Lapid said. "We had no choice."
Beyond a possible summit with Bush, the next steps in the peace process were not immediately clear.
For one thing, the first phase of the road map calls for Palestinians to crack down on militants and on Israel simultaneously to pull back from Palestinians cities and towns.
Until now, however, Sharon has pursued a policy of zero tolerance toward terrorism. Unless the Palestinians crack down on terrorists, he has said, Israel will make no concessions. But that position has, in effect, made militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad the tails that wag the dog: with one suicide bombing, they can scuttle the peace process.
Following Sunday's vote, Abdel al-Rantisi, a senior leader of Hamas, said there would be no change in this group's tactics. He called the road map "a conspiracy to liquidate the Palestinian cause and resistance."
Also, the road map calls for a freeze on Jewish settlements in Israeli-occupied land. On Sunday, however, settlement expansion continued with groundbreaking for 12 new housing units in Elon Moreh on the West Bank.
Also, in a statement issued after Sunday's cabinet meeting, the Israeli government said the cabinet had concurred with the understanding that Sharon reached with the White House that all of its 14 objections to the road map would "be implemented in full during the implementation phase of the road map." The Palestinians have said they will accept no revisions in the plan.
Farther down the road, there are still more complications. In a separate vote of 16-1 on Sunday, the cabinet also rejected any right of return of Palestinian refugees to land now in the Jewish state.
Abbas has been adamant that Palestinians will not give up their right of return, and the road map, while not affirming that right of return, calls for a "fair and realistic solution to the refugee issue."
Contributing: The Associated Press