Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and rebellious cabinet members worked towards a compromise yesterday over his Gaza pullout plan in a bid to avert a government collapse and satisfy US demands.

The face-saving deal in the works calls for cabinet approval ?in principle? for Sharon?s plan to ?disengage? from conflict with Palestinians but requires a new vote months from now before any Jewish settlements could actually be evacuated.

Sharon is facing off with his rival, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and other hardliners who oppose a pullout proposal supported by most Israelis but rejected last month by Likud party members as a reward for ?Palestinian terror?.

The political crisis threatens to bring down Sharon?s coalition government.

Politicians are trying to reach a compromise that can win a majority in Sunday?s cabinet vote and mollify Israel?s ally, the United States, which wants Sharon?s full plan implemented instead of a watered-down version backed by Netanyahu.

?We are looking for a formula that will protect this government,? Netanyahu told Israel Radio as he and other rebels entered talks with cabinet minister Tzipi Livni, a Sharon ally who crafted the compromise proposal.

If negotiations fail, Sharon has the option of sacking ministers from far-right coalition partners that have pledged to vote against him, gaining a slim majority for the cabinet vote.

The former general, nicknamed ?The Bulldozer? for his hard-nosed tactics, failed to muster enough votes last Sunday and the cabinet decision was postponed.

But on Wednesday, he vowed to push his plan past his divided cabinet and evacuate 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 enclaves in the West Bank by the end of 2005.

<B>?Rotten compromise?</B>

The compromise in the works would allow both Sharon and recalcitrant Likud ministers to claim victory. A second vote on evacuating settlements would be put off for at least six months, giving both sides time to marshal support.

But Sharon?s left-wing critics assailed the idea. ?This is a a rotten compromise,? Yossi Sarid, head of the Meretz party, told Israel Radio. ?This is a meatball without meat, chicken soup without the chicken, a concert without music.?

Sharon received a boost on Wednesday when the United States said President George W. Bush would only back the full Gaza pullout proposed and not a scaled-back version.

That reinforced Sharon?s warning that unprecedented US assurances on keeping West Bank land, which drew international condemnation, could be at stake.

While Palestinians would welcome withdrawal from any of the land they seek for a state, they suspect Sharon?s plan is just a ruse to strengthen Israel?s hold on chunks of the West Bank where the bulk of Jewish settlements have been built.

Whichever way the cabinet decides, it could trigger a government crisis, since far-right coalition allies have threatened to walk out if the plan is passed.

Possibly raising the stakes ahead of the vote, some officials dropped hints fresh elections could be held within the next few months. A Sharon confidant dismissed this as unlikely.

<B>Matt SPETALNICK</B>

POWER GAME

<B>Ideological struggle between the PM and three Ministers</B>

• The public face of the dispute between Sharon and the three key ministers ? Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Education Minister Limor Livnat, and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom ? is being depicted as an ideological struggle between a prime minister who has betrayed his party?s ideological line and rank and file and the three ministers as stalwart defenders of the party traditions and the results of the May 2 Likud referendum in which a minority of Likud members cast a resounding vote against Sharon?s plan. But the reality is much different. Netanyahu is fighting to protect his position as the natural leader of the Likud when Sharon leaves office, whether forced out or retiring and like Shalom, is also fighting to make sure that a coalition break-up does not lead to Labor joining the government, which could mean Sharon replacing the two of them with Labor ministers. And Livnat, perhaps the most ideological of the three, nonetheless mostly wants to make sure that she is able to take credit for educational reforms due to begin this coming school year, so she doesn?t want to see the coalition collapse just yet. And Livni, if successful, could leverage he role into a much more powerful position inside the Likud.