Israel's pro-settler National Religious Party (NRP) decided today to quit Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government in protest at his Gaza pullout plan.
However, the widely expected move is unlikely to lead to any immediate collapse of Mr Sharon's government, which already lost its parliamentary majority in June when two other religious lawmakers resigned over the planned withdrawal.
Mr Sharon's coalition has survived with votes from left-wing and Israeli Arab legislators who support his intention to remove all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank in 2005.
The NRP's governing bureau said the four party members still in Mr Sharon's coalition would resign tomorrow. Once they leave the government, Mr Sharon's coalition will have 55 seats in the 120-member parliament.
Party officials said Mr Sharon rejected three NRP proposals to remain in the government : a Gaza pullout referendum, early elections before a withdrawal or suspension of the plan to wait and see who succeeds critically ill Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.