Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday called for a national referendum on the government's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, saying the vote would help unify a bitterly divided nation.

　　Netanyahu's support gave sudden momentum to an idea that has been pushed in recent weeks by opponents to a withdrawal. A referendum would require lengthy preparation and could cause months of delays.

　　In the West Bank town of Jenin, an Israeli helicopter fired a missile at a car, killing a local militant leader and two other people, Palestinian security officials and witnesses said.

　　One of the dead was Mahmoud Abu Halifa, a leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent group linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.

　　The other two were members of Al Aqsa. The Israeli military refused to comment.

　　During four years of Palestinian-Israeli violence, Israel has killed dozens of Palestinian militants with air strikes. Bystanders have also been killed and wounded. Israel defends the practice as self-defense, saying it is preventing Palestinian terror attacks. Palestinians and human rights groups denounce it as summary execution.

　　Netanyahu, who is Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's main rival for leadership of the ruling Likud Party, spoke a day after tens of thousands of Jewish settlers and supporters demonstrated against the withdrawal.

　　Settler leaders have said they will resist evacuation, planned for 2005. There is growing concern among security services about violent confrontations between settlers and Israeli troops.

　　"I propose ... an expedited process for a national referendum that will include one question: 'Are you in favor or against the government decision regarding disengagement?"' Netanyahu said.

　　Although opinion polls show strong public support for the pullout, Sharon has been cool to holding a referendum, fearing it will delay the withdrawal. He has lost two internal votes in his Likud Party on the plan.

　　Netanyahu, who has close ties with the settlers, has offered only lukewarm support for Sharon.

　　(The Associated Press)

　　编辑：趴趴