Arnie: Good luck with Gaza withdrawal
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger met Ariel Sharon today and wished him good luck in a vote on the prime minister’s plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.
Schwarzenegger was also attending the launch of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s Museum of Tolerance during his first trip abroad as governor.
In his meeting with Sharon, Schwarzenegger said that the prime minister’s withdrawal plan was “very important” and he hoped it would pass a vote in Sharon’s Likud Party. The party was holding a referendum on the plan today, and polls indicated a tight race.
According to the plan, Israel would withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the West Bank. Sharon has said he will also bring the plan to his Cabinet and the parliament for approval.
Schwarzenegger has said that a “history of prejudice” in his native country of Austria prompted him to attend the ceremony for the Wiesenthal Centre, an international human rights group based in Los Angeles. Schwarzenegger has given the centre €834,000.
The governor’s father was a member of the Nazi party, but the actor-turned-politician has always sought to distance himself from that part of his Austrian background.
Schwarzenegger has also said he wants to help promote business relations between California and Israel.
In a meeting with members of the Israel Export and International Co-operation Institute, the governor announced five agreements with Israeli companies to expand or create business in the state to help California’s struggling economy.
Schwarzenegger first visited Israel in the 1970s.
Schwarzenegger has also scheduled a surprise detour to Jordan after being criticised by Arab-Americans back home for snubbing Palestinians during his trip. The governor was to fly by helicopter to Jordan on Monday for a private lunch with King Abdullah II, a personal friend who has visited his Brentwood home.
