The Israeli cabinet grudgingly approved the roadmap for peace with the Palestinians, coupling it with a resolution denying Palestinian refugees the right of return, official Israeli sources said. The cabinet approved the internationally-drafted document with 12 votes for, seven against and four abstentions in a stormy session Ariel Sharon chaired after obtaining US guarantees that Israel's concerns would be addressed. Those voting for were Uzi Landau, Natan Sharansky and Yisrael Katz from Sharon's right wing Likud party as well as four ministers from the ultra right-wing National Union and National Religious Party. Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Education Minister Limor Livnat, Health Minister Dan Naveh and the Internal Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi abstained. The government was voting on Sharon's statement last Friday in which he said he was ready to approve the roadmap in light of US assurances. But during the session Sharon described Israel's 14 reservations to the blueprint as a "red line" and reassured the hardliners in his coalition government by saying he did not fully support the roadmap. "I don't like the roadmap either, but it's a lesser evil," he was quoted as saying during the tumultuous meeting. The second resolution rejecting the right of return for refugees, which was drawn up by Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom and Sharon's bureau chief Dov Weisglass, was passed by 16 votes for and one against, angering Palestinian officials. Israel has always been opposed to the right of return for those who fled or were expelled after it was created in 1948, arguing that if 3.7 million Palestinians and their descendants returned to their homes, the state's Jewish character would be threatened. Despite Israel's reservations to the peace blueprint, it was the first time an Israeli government has endorsed a plan explicitly calling for the creation of a Palestinian state. Reacting to Sharon's comments, Justice Minister Tommy Lapid, from the centrist Shinui party said: "The roadmap may be a lesser evil but it is acceptable for Israel, considering the reservation we have formulated." "Imagine the disastrous consequences a refusal would have had for Israel," he told reporters after the meeting. Speaking on Israeli public television, Shalom said it was "one of the hardest days" he had ever experienced, but admitted that it would have been impossible for Israel not to accept the roadmap. "Today, with the whole world recognising the roadmap and the US, our closest and maybe only friend, standing behind it ... we have to accept it," he said, admitting the decision had been taken "with a heavy heart." It was a decision that would allow Israel to maintain its close relationship with the United States, to hold on to its international standing, and it would give the Palestinians a chance to prove themselves, he said. "But now the ball is in the Palestinian court," he stressed. From now, arguments that moderate Palestinian prime minister Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is either "too weak" or "willing but not capable" to put an end to militant attacks on Israel would simply not stand, he said. "That period is completely over. Abu Mazen will be judged not only by Israel, and by the Europeans and the Americans, but also by the extremist (Palestinian) organisations to see if he is going to do something or not," he said. Under the first phase of the roadmap, the Palestinians are required to rein in militant organisations that have launched attacks in Israel, and the two sides are called upon to revive security cooperation. Drafted by top US, UN, EU and Russian officials, the roadmap calls in its first phase for an end to 32-months of violence, an Israeli withdrawal to pre-intifada lines, and a freeze on Jewish settlement activities. It seeks to create a Palestinian state by 2005. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A Palestinian youth, injured during clashes with Israeli soldiers, is carried away in the West Bank city of Tulkarm May 25, 2003.