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  They also pinned their hopes on the Supreme Court, which agreed Monday to hear a challenge to the law providing the legal framework for the withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements.

Approval of a referendum would have almost certainly delayed the withdrawal, scheduled for this summer, and could have brought down Sharon's government and forced new elections. Sharon has repeatedly rejected calls for a national vote as a stalling tactic. Opinion polls show a large majority of Israelis back the withdrawal plan.

After a debate that was repeatedly interrupted by the shouts of angry lawmakers — several of whom were ejected — the Knesset overwhelmingly defeated the referendum proposal 72-39.

"This is a dramatic statement of the Israeli parliament that disengagement is going to be carried out as planned," Vice Premier Ehud Olmert said.

Settlers, thousands of whom protested near the Knesset, said the vote would split Israeli society. The government missed a chance to "prevent a violent confrontation and civil war," the Settlers Council said in a statement.

The vote exposed the deep divisions in Likud, a hawkish party filled with settlers and their allies that was stunned by Sharon's sudden reversal last year of his longtime policy of backing settlement building. Sharon says the pullout will help Israel hang on to parts of the West Bank.

Only 13 of Likud's 40 legislators voted against the referendum, forcing Sharon to rely on the support of dovish parties and Arab legislators.

The disengagement plan repeatedly has won Knesset votes. In what will likely be its final legislative test, Sharon must get his budget passed by Thursday, a near certainty after the opposition Shinui Party agreed over the weekend to support the spending plan.

The Supreme Court hearing was set for April 8 before an expanded panel of 11 judges, the Courts Administration said. Such a large panel is generally reserved for landmark cases.

Israeli legal analyst Moshe Negbi said the court decided to hear the case to show that justice was being done, but it was highly unlikely to strike down the law.

"The most (opponents) can hope for ... is that the court will say that the compensation is not high enough," he said.

On the Palestinian side, Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia sharply criticized the United States Monday after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reiterated support for Israel's plans to keep large Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank after the withdrawal. "This policy is completely incomprehensible," Qureia told reporters.

Israeli officials have confirmed plans to build 3,650 homes around the Maaleh Adumim settlement near Jerusalem. With the expansion and the construction of a separation barrier, Israel would effectively cut off east Jerusalem, the Palestinians' intended capital, from a future state in the West Bank.

A senior Israeli Defense Ministry official said Monday that the Maaleh Adumim project, originally conceived in 1999, could take years to begin.

Building permits cannot be issued because the status of the land has not been determined and the ministry expects court challenges that could last for years, the official said on condition of anonymity. Israeli Defense Ministry officials rarely comment on the record.

Also Monday, the ruling Palestinian Fatah Party decided to call its first-ever primary election ahead of voting for the parliament, party officials said.

The officials said a meeting of the Fatah leadership determined that primary elections were the only way to choose candidates. The Palestinian comments were made before a formal statement was issued about the meeting and so the officials declined to be identified.

Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas won a presidential election on Jan. 9 to succeed Yasser Arafat and voting for the legislature is set for July.

© 2005 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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