by Michael Blum
TEL AVIV, Aug 18 (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a stunning blow to his Gaza pullout plan Wednesday when his Likud party voted against the main opposition Labour faction joining a new coalition government.
A motion put forward by hardline cabinet minister Uzi Landau specifically ruling out Labour's entry into government was adopted by 843 votes to 612, Likud officials said.
An alternative motion filed by Sharon's camp which would have authorised him to negotiate with "any Zionist party" was defeated by just 19 votes, they said.
Sharon needs to bring Labour into a new broad-based coalition to give him a parliamentary majority for his so-called disengagement plan which will involve the withdrawal of all settlers and troops from the Gaza Strip next year.
He lost his majority in the 120-seat Knesset in June when traditional right-wing supporters baulked at what they regard as the "forcible transfer of Jews".
The premier has already said that he will not be bound by the outcome but a rejection of his overall political strategy by his party is extremely damaging.
A source close to the prime minister told AFP after the result that Sharon was now likely to call elections in the next six months. The next general election is not scheduled to take place until 2006.
In his speech before the vote, Sharon made no direct reference to the disengagement plan, which also envisages the de facto annexation of larger West Bank settlement blocs, but said Israel was facing a moment of truth.
"There are times in the life of a nation when it is forced to take hard and fateful decisions. The state of Israel has reached this point," he said.
Minister without portfolio Landau, who has been leading the campaign against Labour's entry into government, told delegates that Sharon's coalition plans would undermine the core values of Likud.
"If the Labour party joins the government, it will lead to the dismantling of the government, and we will have to hold new elections," he said.
"We aren't against a coalition with Labour, we are against transforming our party into a Labour party."
It is the third major reverse that Sharon has suffered at the hands of Likud, Israel's main right-wing party, since he came to power in January 2001.
The wider Likud party membership rejected the disengagement plan in a referendum back in May.
And the party also defied Sharon's policy in 2002 by voting against the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
The scale of the divisions within Likud was evident during the raucous convention meeting in Tel Aviv where many delegates brandished banners both for and against Sharon.
The premier said that he had no option but look for new coalition partners as Likud rebels were constantly acting against his government.
"We have to decide whether Likud will continue to lead the government or whether Likud is led by an irresponsible rebellious faction," he said.
His speech was interrupted at one point by hecklers, forcing an intervention from convention president Israel Katz.
"It is absolutely unacceptable for it to be impossible to have a decision within Likud," said Katz, who is agriculture minister in the current government.