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PENTAGON PRESSES ISRAEL ON GAZA PULLOUT

TEL AVIV [MENL] -- The U.S. Defense Department has been recruited in the Bush administration's effort to press Israel to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials said senior Pentagon representatives have urged their Israeli counterparts to press the Cabinet to approve Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan for a unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The officials said the issue was raised several times over the last month, including during an annual U.S-Israeli strategic cooperation meeting in Tel Aviv this week.

In one case, officials said, Defense Undersecretary Doug Feith pressed Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz to ensure government passage of the withdrawal plan. Feith, officials said, asked Mofaz how long the Cabinet would debate Sharon's proposal.

Mofaz was said to have responded that Sharon's plan remained opposed by a large portion of the Cabinet. The defense minister said Sharon was spending most of his time trying to win a Cabinet majority before submitting his plan to a vote.

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