PM: I can withstand pressure for another disengagement plan

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A number of interesting comments from Jabba.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon believes he will be able to resist international pressure for a further withdrawal from the West Bank "the day after" the upcoming pullout.

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In an effort to curry favor with the settlers, the prime minister said they were "a leading group" that still faced important national tasks in settling the Negev, Galilee and Judea.

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"Had we wanted to build the fence on the border of the security zone, known today as Area C, the fence would have been a lot further to the east," he said. "But such a move would have left hundreds of thousands of Palestinians inside the fence, and these Palestinians would have eventually joined forces with Arab Israelis, and then it would certainly have been a major problem."

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"I am troubled by the fact - we hear this perhaps more in Europe than in the United States - that the world is beginning to grow accustomed to the idea that the day will come and Iran will be a member of the nuclear weapons club," he said.

Haaretz