http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/423441.html<snip>
"Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Tuesday cancelled a May 17 trip to the United States for talks with President George W. Bush. The decision comes in the wake of the overwhelming defeat of his U.S.-backed unilateral disengagement plan, in a referendum of Likud members Sunday.
Officials in the prime minister's office believe that given the circumstances, there is no point in a further meeting between Bush and Sharon. The prime minister was to meet Tuesday with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Kurzter, in his first talks with an American official since the referendum.
During his U.S. trip, Sharon was also due to speak to the U.S. pro-Israel lobby group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher on Monday termed Sharon's defeat a "setback" for the prime minister. Boucher said, however, that the plan, publicly welcomed by Bush during Sharon's visit to Washington last month, could still be a way to move peace talks forward."