JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon appeared to have seen off pressure for a referendum on his Gaza pullout plan as his chances of winning parliamentary approval for his project climbed.
Sharon had faced widespread calls from MPs within his own party and right-wing ministers to hold a nationwide ballot on his so-called disengagement plan, culiminating in a stormy meeting with Likud deputies on Monday.
However army radio reported Tuesday that Likud MPs, having failed to force a U-turn from the prime minister, were now suspending their campaign.
Transport Minister Meir Sheetrit said a referendum would have been an act of political suicide for Likud and was clearly designed to derail the whole project.
"If the Likud wants to commit suicide, this is precisely how to do it," Sheetrit said.
"Today anybody who says: 'let's hold a referendum,' is saying 'let's delay the disengagement for many months,' and we won't know if there will be an end to it. That is why the prime minister could not accept the proposal for a referendum, and he was right."
Sharon will present the plan for a vote in parliament next Monday where his chances of victory are looking ever stronger, even though he lacks a majority.
However he received assurances from opposition Labour leader Shimon Peres at talks late Monday that his party would back the government on October 25.
"All the Labour faction... will vote in favour of the plan. Mr Peres promised this yesterday to Mr Sharon," leading Labour MP and former defence minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said.
The six members of the left-wing Yahad faction are also set to vote with the government.
"We must prevent the extreme-right from torpedoing the disengagement," Yahad MP Ran Cohen told public radio.
Health Minister Danny Naveh, who is one of Sharon's closest allies, said that the prime minister intended to sack any member of his government if they failed to back disengagement.
"The ministers and vice-ministers will be forced to vote for the plan in the chamber although Likud deputies will have a free vote," he said.
Several members of Sharon's government, including cabinet minister Uzi Landau, have been leading the opposition to the pullout plan which also envisages Israel tightening its grip over larger West Bank settlement blocs.
Parliament officials said that extra security measures were being imposed ahead of next Monday's vote while prison authorities also revealed that they had been asked to prepare for the detention of hundreds of settlers.
Sharon has accused some extremists of trying to provoke a civil war, an accusation that has been thrown back in his face by his one-time supporters.
Peres voiced fears that Sharon's life was now in danger, saying the atmosphere of incitement was as bad as in the lead-up to the asssassination of Yitzhak Rabin.
"The incitement has me terrified, the harsh words that are being voiced again," Labor leader Peres was quoted as telling the Maariv daily. "I am afraid that someone will try to kill the prime minister."
Peres assumed the premiership after Rabin was shot dead by a right-wing Jewish extremist at a rally in Tel Aviv nearly nine years ago. He said the atmosphere surrounding Sharon's plans to uproot 8,000 settlers from the Gaza Strip next year was reminiscent of the mood in 1995.
"There is a lot of similarity between the situation then and today," Peres said.
"I hope that the security establishment, which drew conclusions in wake of the assassination, is protecting the prime minister well, since the incitement is terrible and disturbing."