JERUSALEM - The Israeli parliament on Monday rejected a bill calling for a referendum on the government's plans to pull out of the occupied Gaza Strip later this year, removing the final obstacle to the withdrawal.
Seventy-two MPs voted against the bill with 39 deputies in favour out of the 114 MPs present in the Knesset for the vote. There were three abstentions.
The bill was drawn up by opponents of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to dismantle all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza as well as four outposts in the northern West Bank, due to begin on July 20.