Jerusalem ? Tens of thousands of Jewish settlers and their backers demonstrated Sunday in Jerusalem against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to evacuate all settlements from Gaza and four West Bank enclaves in a rally held amid warnings of assassinations and civil war.

The withdrawal plan has upset the Israeli political scene since it was announced last year, turning Sharon’s backers into opponents and detractors into supporters. Skeptical Palestinians believe the whole plan is a trick to annex large parts of the West Bank to Israel.

The demonstrators filled downtown Jerusalem, shutting down much of the city, to protest the planned pullout.

Most of those filling downtown were Orthodox Jews, many of them teenage girls in long skirts or youths wearing knit skullcaps. A huge banner behind the stage set the theme: “Disengagement tears the people apart.” Many waved Israeli flags.

Organizers pledged to prevent incitement to violence, but there also were some ominous signs.

One placard warned that the head of Sharon’s disengagement committee would “not be forgiven.” Another showed a picture of Sharon under the words, “The Dictator.”

Another sign said, “A time to love, a time to hate,” quoting the biblical Book of Ecclesiastes.

After the demonstration, hundreds of participants, many holding candles, marched to a square near Sharon’s official residence, where they called on the prime minister to resign. The rally dispersed peacefully.

At a Cabinet meeting Sunday morning, Sharon warned of statements of “grave incitement” that were “directing toward a civil war.”

Israeli settlers and supporters conclude a protest rally and march that ended Sunday one block from the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in downtown Jerusalem. The settlers protested against Sharon's plan to evacuate all settlements from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank enclaves, in a climate of escalating rhetoric and warnings of assassinations and civil war.

“There are not enough voices being heard among the Cabinet on this subject,” Sharon said.

The issue of incitement has been especially sensitive in Israel since the Nov. 4, 1995, assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by an ultra-nationalist Jew opposed to Rabin’s policy favoring territorial concessions to the Palestinians in exchange for peace. Some Israeli commentators have compared the current atmosphere with the vitriolic period preceding Rabin’s death.

Mainstream settler leaders rejected Sharon’s statement as an attempt to paint all of them with the extremist brush.

“We are completely against violence or threats of violence,” Settlers Council spokesman Josh Hasten said. “These blanket statements unjustly put an entire group into a category.”

Polls show that the large secular Jewish majority favors steps to distance Israel from the Palestinians, including an exit from Gaza and removal of some West Bank settlements.