Sharon vows fight to prevent Israeli rift
Prime minister: I won't surrender to threats
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Facing threats to his plan to withdraw settlements from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Tuesday he "will do everything in [his] power to prevent a rift in the nation" over the issue.
In a news conference organized by the Foreign Press Association, Sharon -- speaking in English -- said the plan to evacuate settlements was "one of the most difficult steps I had to take during my term as prime minister."
The Israeli leader responded to threats against him and his government that have been investigated since they were first reported last September:
"My own personal safety doesn't affect me and doesn't affect my plans," Sharon said. "I am not concerned and I am determined to carry out a decision of the government.
"Such threats are intolerable. In my entire life I have never surrendered to threats and I have no intention of starting now."
In 1995, a Jewish fundamentalist, Yigal Amir, shot and killed Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin at a peace rally in Tel Aviv. Amir was angered by Rabin's backing of the Oslo Accords, which were intended to trade land for peace with the Palestinians.
Sharon said Israel will coordinate with the Palestinian Authority on his plan to evacuate 21 settlements in Gaza -- coordination he had refused to implement while the authority was led by Yasser Arafat.
Arafat died in November from an unknown illness, and Mahmoud Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority in January. (Full story)
Abbas and Sharon announced a cease-fire last week. (Full story)
Some settlers' groups that once supported Sharon now see him as a traitor.
On Tuesday, Sharon stressed the importance of coordinating the Israeli withdrawal with the Palestinian Authority.
"I think it's very important for us because, first, I would like that the area we are leaving will not be in the future in the hands of Hamas or Islamic Jihad or any most radical terrorist organization, but in the hands of the Palestinian Authority," Sharon said.
Sharon also said he was disappointed in a recent decision by Russia to sell "sophisticated weapons" to Syria -- including the SA-18, a shoulder-fired, surface-air heat-seeking missile designed to shoot down low-flying planes and helicopters.
Sharon said Russian President Vladimir Putin promised more than two years ago "that the SA-18 ... would not be sold to the Syrians because it might find its way to the hands of terrorist organizations."
Made in Russia, the SA-18 is more advanced and accurate than the SA-7, which was used in a failed attempt to shoot down an Israeli charter in Kenya in November 2002. (Full story)
"We are in constant contact with the Russians in order to settle this issue and ensure these weapons do not reach terror organizations located in Lebanon," Sharon said.
"Lebanon is a center of terrorism and regional instability, and we have all seen what happened yesterday in this regard," he said, referring to the assassination in Beirut of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. (Full story)
CNN's Guy Raz contributed to this report.
