MIDDLE EAST: Israel's embattled prime minister Ariel Sharon won a surprisingly large majority in parliament yesterday for his Gaza withdrawal plan, as Israeli lawmakers voted for the first time in favour of the evacuation of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, writes Peter Hirschberg in Jerusalem.
Mr Sharon will clearly be buoyed by the 67-45 vote in the 120-seat parliament, which even his most optimistic aides had thought would be much closer.
But with his ruling Likud Party bitterly divided over his plan - almost half voted No yesterday - and with another right-wing party in his coalition about to bolt, the prime minister will have to navigate a political labyrinth if his plan to evacuate all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in the northern West Bank actually gets under way.
He will be hoping that the large majority will help him quash calls for a national referendum on his plan - an idea he strongly opposes.
But just minutes after the vote yesterday, four senior Likud ministers presented him with an ultimatum: if he does not agree to a referendum on his withdrawal plan, they will resign within 14 days.
"We can't support this process unless it is accompanied by a referendum," said finance minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most senior minister in the group and Mr Sharon's main rival in the party.
The prime minister's aides portray the call for a referendum as an effort to delay implementation of the pull-out plan. But they might also fear losing. Despite public opinion polls showing almost two-thirds of Israelis are in favour of leaving Gaza, there is nevertheless concern within Mr Sharon's camp about the settlers' capacity for political mobilisation.
Earlier this year the prime minister lost a referendum on his plan inside his own party after holding a double-digit lead in the polls just weeks before the vote.
With his Likud Party torn over the plan - immediately after the vote Mr Sharon fired a Likud minister who voted against it - and the religious right strongly opposed to it, Mr Sharon had to rely on the opposition Labour Party and other left-wing lawmakers to get the pull-out passed.
He may now try to bring the opposition Labour, all of whose members yesterday voted in favour of withdrawal, into his government in a bid to shore up his shaky coalition.
While attention was focused yesterday on the tension surrounding the vote and last-minute political manoeuvring by Mr Netanyahu and his allies aimed at forcing Mr Sharon to accept a referendum, the historic significance of the vote was not lost on some.
"All the political intrigue that went on here today will be forgotten in a week," said justice minister Joseph Lapid, the head of the centrist Shinui Party which voted in favour of the plan. "But what was decided today will be remembered in 100 years' time."
The vote seals a dramatic shift in Mr Sharon's position; he was the architect of many of the settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. Just over a year ago he was still insisting that isolated settlements in the Strip were crucial to Israel's security.
Opening the two-day debate on his plan in parliament on Monday, political observers marvelled as the prime minister adopted the language and rationale of the Israeli left, which has long supported getting out of the Occupied Territories.
"We don't want to rule over millions of Palestinians whose population is doubling every generation. Israel wishes to be a democracy and cannot do it."
He also had some harsh words for the settlers - his one-time political allies - telling them they suffered from a "messianic" complex. However, Palestinian leaders, as well as some on the Israeli left, still fear that Mr Sharon hopes that by getting out of Gaza he will be able to solidify Israel's control of vast swathes of the West Bank.
The prime minister entered parliament yesterday surrounded by 16 bodyguards. Security around him has been beefed up in recent weeks amidst growing fears that he could become the target of an assassination attempt.
Yesterday's vote fell on the ninth anniversary - according to the Hebrew calendar - of the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin by a Jewish extremist bent on destroying the Oslo process.
Thousands of settlers gathered outside parliament yesterday to protest against Mr Sharon. Some held banners declaring "Sharon has disengaged from reality". Others cited psalms as the Knesset voted.
Settler leaders argued that the withdrawal was a prize for Palestinian militants and would encourage them to step up attacks on Israel.
The vote came amid speculation about the deteriorating health of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
A Palestinian doctor said yesterday, however, that the 75-year-old leader had a large gallstone that was not life-threatening. Mr Arafat broke the Ramadan fast yesterday to undergo more tests.
In southern Gaza, Israeli forces withdrew from the Khan Younis refugee camp after a two-day operation aimed at halting mortar fire into Jewish settlements in the Strip. Seventeen Palestinians were killed in the raid.