Sharon faces battle to keep coalition afloat

The cabinet voted 14 to seven late Sunday for a revised version of the premier's so-called disengagement plan which envisages a phased evacuation of all 21 of the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and four others in the northern West Bank.

But under the terms of a compromise solution, no withdrawals will take place until March next year at the earliest while each phase will be subject to separate votes in cabinet.

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Sharon put a brave face on the compromise in a speech after the vote, declaring that "the disengagement process has begun" and underlining his intention to "relocate" the settlements by the end of next year.

But his victory in cabinet has come at a price. After sacking two members of the hard-right National Union, he now enjoys the theoretical support of just 62 MPs in the 120-seat parliament.

And another coalition partner, the National Religious Party (NRP), could also bolt the government after expressing its fury at Sunday's decision.

NRP leader and housing minister Effi Eitam called it "one of the blackest decisions ever taken by the Israeli government".

"The NRP will not put its hand to this programme nor to any government which accepts such a terrible decision. The terrible vision that means the Gaza Strip will be clean of Jews ... will not happen," he said.

Army radio reported that the NRP's six deputies were meeting on Monday to decide whether to remain in the government.

Some deputies of the premier's Likud party are also furious that he is pushing ahead with the Gaza plan after it was overwhelmingly rejected in a ballot of party members five weeks ago.

But while their loyalty in parliament can no longer be taken for granted, any attempt to unseat Sharon looks likely to be hampered by a failure to agree on an alternative.

Speculation is rising that Sharon may turn to the main opposition Labour party to keep his government afloat.

Labour withdrew a no confidence motion which was due to be debated in parliament with one leading deputy, Haim Ramon, saying that "the government has made a historic decision which we should back."

Labour's parliamentary group was to meet later Monday to decide how to vote on censure motions submitted by other minor opposition parties.

Party leader Shimon Peres also sought to dampen speculation of a deal with Sharon by cancelling his monthly meeting with the premier.

The White House on Sunday welcomed the Israeli cabinet's decision to back Sharon's revised plan, again calling the scheme a "courageous and historic step".

"As we have said, we view the prime minister's plan to withdraw all settlements in Gaza and certain settlements in the West Bank as a courageous and historic step," it said in a statement.

"We urge that practical preparatory work to implement the plan now proceed as rapidly as possible in Israel."

President George W. Bush infuriated the Palestinians in April by accompanying his endorsement of the Sharon plan with declarations that it was "unrealistic" to expect Israel to pull out of large West Bank settlement blocs and implicitly ruling out the right of Palestinian refugees to return to land lost when Israel was created in 1948.

Palestinian negotiations minister Saeb Erakat voiced dismay at the prospect of a further delay to the Gaza pullout Monday, adding that he wanted to see "action rather than words" from the Sharon government.