02 May 2004	Sunday	11 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

TEL AVIV, May 1: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Saturday took a risk that could cost him his job by making a Likud party referendum on his proposed unilateral Gaza pullout a vote of confidence,

"Those who will vote against my plan will vote against me, and those who will vote for my plan, will vote for me," Mr Sharon said in a television interview on Friday evening.

Should his fellow Likud members reject the proposal to evacuate 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four on the West Bank, Mr Sharon said "it would be very difficult to lead the country".

He said a defeat could lead to early elections and that "terror would increase".

He said that would constitute "the greatest victory for (Palestinian leader) Yasser Arafat and for Hamas".

When asked if he would resign should a "no" vote prevail, Mr Sharon skirted the question saying: "The issue at stake is whether the Likud will continue to lead the country."

The hawkish premier has repeatedly stressed the vote is non-binding, and one of his advisors said: "One thing I can assure you - even if he loses, the prime minister is determined to go ahead with his plan.

"If you have to change the political constellation to get his plan through, then that's what he'll try to do," he said, adding that his boss could even try to rearrange his ruling coalition and "go for another government".

That would almost certainly mean Mr Sharon would drop his long-time allies in the nationalist right and try to bring in the left-wing Labour party.

Pitching Mr Sharon's plan to the 193,000 Likud members, Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said on Saturday it would "reinforce (the) Jewish presence" in northern Israel, the southern desert and the West Bank.

"We must reinforce settlement blocs in the West Bank, as they offer us strategic depth and defensible borders for the future," he said.

Should Likud approve the plan, its implementation will "start at the end of next year to allow for a dialogue with the settlers that will have to relocate", he added.

Four newspaper polls predicted Likud will reject the plan by a margin of between one and seven percentage points, although they also show large numbers still undecided.

In contrast, the Israeli public supports the evacuation plan.

Still, defeat would not only humiliate the right-wing former general, it would also sink the peace process even deeper in the mire, since the United States is looking to the plan to kickstart the peace process left moribund by the cycle of violence.

"I'll admit to a slight sense of panic," said one US official who deals with Middle East policy.

"We're not really sure what we'll do if it goes down, but it will complicate things. Just how and how much, though, we don't know. We'll have to see."

Mr Sharon has convinced US that he had to opt for unilateral peace steps since Palestinians have been unable to implement the roadmap - a US-backed blueprint calling for renewed negotiations and the creation of Palestinian state next year.-AFP