Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, speaking at a meeting with Jewish leaders in New York, stated he would refuse to compromise on Jerusalem in a peace deal with the Palestinians. "I will never negotiate on Jerusalem," Sharon said in his speech on Sunday night. 
The Israeli leader called his plan to withdraw from Gaza Strip "the most difficult decision" he has ever made and warned that "the coming period will be one of the most difficult the State of Israel has known since its establishment."
Sharon insisted that the plan was needed to preserve Israel's Jewish majority, encourage the peace process and "make certain that important parts of the cradle of the Jewish people would remain part of Israel forever."
© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
