JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon battled to dissuade members of his own party from pushing for a referendum on his Gaza pullout plan as he conceded elections may be needed to end divisions in the country.
Sharon attended a stormy two-hour meeting with Likud MPs, some of whom have drawn up their own legislation designed to put the issue before the country.
Following the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the only reason Likud rebels were pressing for a referendum was to bring down the so-called disengagement plan.
"I have no doubt that the only reason they are bringing up this issue now is out of a desire to thwart the disengagement programme," he told public television.
"We cannot shatter every government system which has existed in Israel for 55 years simply because someone is finding it a bit difficult to deal with the current reality," he added.
Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sharon`s chief rival within the Likud, said he had tried to convince the premier that a referendum was necessary to preserve national unity.
"I told the prime minister that a referendum is the best choice. It will protect the unity of the people, the unity of the government and the unity of the Likud, and it will also ensure we continue with our economic policies," said Netanyahu, who is himself a former premier.
A delegation of Gaza settler leaders that had been invited to hold fresh talks with Sharon Tuesday evening after a rancorous first meeting Sunday said they would stay away unless the premier accepted a referendum, or at very least early elections.
Sharon has so far rebuffed pressure to call a referendum on his plan which also envisages a strengthening of Israeli control over larger West Bank settlements.
But he acknowledged for the first time Monday that fresh parliamentary elections were a possibility if he was unable to end the political divisions, while adding he did not think that polls were 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."
Sharon lost his parliamentary majority back in June when traditional allies either quit or were sacked in a row over the Gaza withdrawal plan.
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 the proposed pullout.
On Monday evening, parliament rejected three censure motions against Sharon, despite the opposition Labour party supporting a vote of no confidence.
Two motions -- by the Labour party and the orthodox Shas party -- condemned Sharon`s economic and social policy. Voting was 54 in favour and 54 against, meaning that the censures failed.
The third motion, proposed by the Arab communist party over the recent lethal three-week military offensive in the Gaza Strip failed by 62 votes to 17.
Sharon had been due to meet Labour leader Shimon Peres on Monday but it was not clear whether the talks would go ahead.
Parliament is expected to vote on the Gaza pullout in a week.
Sharon`s opponents have warned that the pullout would create a vacuum to be filled by Gaza-based militant groups who have continued to attack Israeli targets.
At least four militants were killed by Israeli troops in separate incidents Monday, including two Hamas members who broke through a barrier separating Israeli territory from Gaza in an abortive attempt to attack a nearby kibbutz.
Two members of another armed faction, Islamic Jihad, were killed while planting a bomb on the Israeli-controlled border between Gaza and Egypt.
Around 130 Palestinians were killed in the near three-week Israeli army offensive in northern Gaza that was wound up over the weekend.
On a tour of the region Monday, the head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees said Israel had 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 was in clear violation of international law and could not be justified on military grounds.