JERUSALEM, Israel – Prime Minister Sharon fended off the latest challenge to his Gaza withdrawal plan yesterday, winning a parliamentary vote that had threatened to bring down his new moderate government.

But hard-liners in his Likud Party said they will topple Mr. Sharon if he doesn’t put his pullout plan to a national referendum – a step he has ruled out.

The political crisis revolved around Mr. Sharon’s 2005 state budget, which must pass three votes by March 31. Otherwise, the government must resign and new elections would be scheduled, putting the Gaza pullout in jeopardy.

Mr. Sharon this week formed a new government with the dovish Labor Party and a small ultra-Orthodox Jewish party. The alliance, with the occasional backing of several opposition parties, gives Mr. Sharon a solid majority in favor of the Gaza withdrawal, despite objections from 13 Likud lawmakers.

Without the hard-liners’ support, however, Mr. Sharon doesn’t have enough votes to push his budget through Parliament. Some of the opposition parties backing the withdrawal oppose Mr. Sharon’s 2005 spending plan.

Just before yesterday’s vote, the Likud rebels said they would temporarily support the budget. But they threatened to oppose it in subsequent votes if Sharon does not hold a referendum on the pullout plan.

“It was decided unanimously to support the budget until the second and third readings,” one of the hard-liners, Yehiel Hazan, said before the 64-53 vote. “We call on the prime minister to reconsider holding a referendum.”

Mr. Sharon has rejected a referendum as a stalling tactic. Mr. Sharon’s spokesman, Asaf Shariv, said after the vote that the prime minister’s opinion hasn’t changed.

Mr. Sharon was expected to court the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party to shore up support for the budget. But Shas would likely demand hundreds of millions of dollars for its religious schools and social programs, throwing the budget process into disarray.

Mr. Sharon’s plan, which includes the evacuation of four West Bank settlements, would uproot 8,800 settlers from their homes. Settler leaders, along with many members of the Likud, the traditional patron of the settler movement, oppose the plan.

Israeli military officials have expressed growing concern that a majority of settlers could violently resist removal.

The army will mobilize several thousand troops during the evacuation, scheduled to begin in July, military officials said yesterday. The operation will be called “Brethren Dwelling,” a phrase from the Book of Psalms.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said an extra army division will be deployed in Gaza a month before the withdrawal begins.

They said Netzarim, an isolated enclave where 500 settlers live, would be the first settlement to be evacuated to test the level of opposition. The Gaza withdrawal will take two months, and the four West Bank settlements will be evacuated in September, the officials said.

Mr. Sharon proposed the Gaza plan last year as a unilateral move, but he has said he is ready to coordinate the pullout with newly elected Palestinian Arab leader Mahmoud Abbas. Mr. Sharon refused to negotiate with the late Yasser Arafat, accusing him of encouraging terrorism.

Mr. Sharon called Mr. Abbas on Tuesday to congratulate him on his victory in this week’s Palestinian presidential election. Both sides said a meeting between the two will take place soon, but no date was set.

Mr. Abbas is trying to win a cease-fire from Palestinian Arab terrorists as part of his efforts to restart peace talks.

Yesterday, a top Hamas leader in Gaza, Mahmoud Zahar, said his Islamic insurgent group has no plans to disarm and that Mr. Abbas has no authority to order an end to attacks on Israel.

However, the threat appeared to be largely a negotiating tactic. Mr. Zahar said his group would be meeting with Mr. Abbas soon.