JERUSALEM, Oct 18: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon held a stormy two-hour meeting with members of his right-wing Likud party on Monday in a bid to dissuade them from pushing for a referendum on his Gaza pullout plan.

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 Binyamin Netanyahu, Sharon's chief rival within 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.

Right-wingers in the Likud have drafted a bill which would force the disengagement plan to be put to a nationwide ballot.

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.

Sharon had been due to meet Labour leader Shimon Peres on Monday but it was not clear whether the talks would go ahead.-AFP