Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon conceded on Monday he may have to call fresh elections to end divisions over his Gaza pull-out plan as pressure for a referendum mounted within his party.
In the latest violence, four Palestinians militants were shot dead by Israeli troops, including a pair from Hamas who were planning to attack a kibbutz.
Sharon has so far rebuffed pressure to call a referendum on his so-called disengagement plan, which settlers have warned is leading the country to civil war.
But he acknowledged fresh elections are a possibility if he is unable to end the political divisions, while adding he does not think that polls are in the country’s interests.
“I don’t think it’s a good thing to hold elections now. I’m not scared of elections, and if there is no way out, there will be elections,” Sharon told reporters after meeting President Moshe Katsav.
“But as the nation is currently engaged in a diplomatic plan, in a very fierce struggle against terror, and has a complex and difficult economic plan in front of it, I think we have to make every effort to prevent elections.”
Katsav, who has a largely symbolic role, is himself in favour of a referendum on the disengagement plan, which will see all 8Â 000 Jewish residents of Gaza uprooted from their homes next year.
Despite his opposition, there appears to be a growing movement within Sharon’s Likud party for a U-turn, with right-wing MPs meeting on Monday to debate a draft Bill for a referendum.
Ten MPs have so far pledged their support for the Bill, including Cabinet minister Uzi Landau and the powerful chairperson of the foreign affairs and defence committee, Yuval Steinitz.
“In order to prevent a situation of civil war and also to create coalition stability for the prime minister until the end of his term of office, I think there is no escape but to turn to the public in order to win its faith through this process,” another of its supporters, Gila Gamliel, told army radio.
Education Minister Limor Livnat has been floating a compromise deal that would see a positive vote for disengagement in Parliament next Monday as the trigger for a referendum whose outcome would be regarded as binding by the settlers.
Sharon lost his majority back in June when traditional allies either quit or were sacked in a row over the project.
His government has so far been kept afloat by the main opposition Labour party, which has indicated it will provide a safety net in Parliament, but only in votes connected with disengagement.
Sharon was expected to meet later on Monday with Labour leader Shimon Peres.
Settler leaders warned after an acrimonious meeting with the prime minister on Sunday that the country is heading for “civil war”, accusing their former champion of being deaf to their concerns.
Sharon’s opponents have warned that the pull-out will create a vacuum to be filled by Gaza-based militant groups that have continued to attack Israeli targets.
At least four militants were killed by Israeli troops in separate incidents on Monday, including the Hamas militants who broke through a barrier separating Israeli territory from Gaza and were trying to attack a kibbutz.
Two members of another armed faction, Islamic Jihad, were also killed while planting an explosive device on the Israeli-controlled border between southern Gaza and Egypt.
About 130 Palestinians were killed in a near-three-week Israeli army offensive in northern Gaza that was wound up over the weekend.
On a tour of the region on Monday, the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said Israel committed “a gross violation of international and humanitarian law” during Operation Days of Penitence.
And the New York-based Human Rights Watch said Israel’s demolition of thousands of Palestinian homes in Gaza is in clear violation of international law and cannot be justified on military grounds. — Sapa-AFP
‘They destroyed all the houses’