[JURIST] Although heckled by members of his own Likud Party [political party website in Hebrew], Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon [Israel MFA profile] Thursday announced his final rejection of demands for a national referendum on his Gaza disengagement plan [JURIST report], which calls for the evacuation of more than 8,000 Jewish settlers this summer. Sharon said he "will not let the extreme fringes dictate our path." Although the Central Committee of the Likud Party overwhelmingly approved a non-binding resolution to propose a national referendum, there is little chance that the Knesset [English homepage] would itself approve such a measure. The International Herald Tribune has the more information [NYT report].