In Israel, Prime minister Ariel Sharon has suffered perhaps his worst political defeat after members of his own Likud Party rejected his plans to pull Israeli troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip. Despite the defeat from his own party, Sharon vowed that he would not resign. The Israeli vote is also being seen as a major defeat for President Bush and his Middle East policies. Last month Bush broke with the international community and supported Sharon’s unilateral plan to permanently keep settlements in the West Bank and to bar the right of return to Palestinians. One State Department official said “The real objective of giving Sharon the blank check was to shore up his political support at home. We paid a very high price and did not get a return.” The non-binding vote in Israel may have swayed by what has been described as the worst attack on Gaza settlers in two years. On Sunday a Palestinian gunman killed a pregnant Jewish settler and her four daughters aged between 2 and 11.