Sharon wins vital vote on budget

Israeli soldiers and settlers are due to leave Gaza in July

Israel's parliament has approved the 2005 budget, clearing the way for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to carry out his Gaza withdrawal plan.

Members of the Knesset endorsed the spending package by 58 votes to 36, with one abstention.

Rebels in Mr Sharon's own party, Likud, had wanted to defeat the budget and force early elections, in a bid to delay the planned July pullout.

The Israeli settler movement has vowed to step up protests against the plan.

The settler Yesha Council said that Mr Sharon had "brutally prevented the possibility of allowing the people to decide" about a referendum, warning of a "violent confrontation and civil war".

Despite opposition from within Likud, the budget passed as expected, thanks to a deal that Mr Sharon struck with the third-largest party, Shinui.

The vote was the last political obstacle to the withdrawal, after deputies on Monday rejected an attempt by opponents to force a referendum.

Protests planned

Tuesday's budget debate represented the climax of fraught, behind-the-scenes negotiations with parties and individual deputies, says the BBC's Nick Thorpe in Jerusalem.

If Mr Sharon had failed to pass his budget by a 31 March deadline, elections would have had to be called and withdrawal from Gaza could have been delayed or derailed.

The referendum was voted out after a long struggle for Sharon

The Knesset will now go into a six-week recess.

On Monday, the prime minister won a key victory for his plan in parliament's rejection of a pullout referendum - which he had described as a delaying tactic.

Opinion polls consistently show a majority of Israelis favour leaving Gaza, which Israel has occupied - along with the West Bank and east Jerusalem - since 1967.

Mr Sharon proposes pulling out all settlers and the soldiers who protect them. Israel will maintain control of Gaza's borders, air space and coastline.

Officials have given settlers until the last week of July to accept compensation and leave voluntarily or face eviction.

But settler leaders have pledged to mobilise tens of thousands of protesters to prevent troops from evacuating settlements.

The Palestinians have welcomed the Gaza withdrawal plan, but say the continued existence of large Israeli settlements on the West Bank will prevent the creation of a viable Palestinian state.