... "You are wonderful people, but you have one weakness - a Messianic complex has evolved among you," Sharon said.
"This disengagement will strengthen Israel, will advance the path of peace with the Palestinians and the rest of our neighbors.

"I am accused of tricking the nation and the voters, because I am taking steps totally opposed to things I said and things I did in the past. This accusation is baseless plot at election time and as prime minister I said publicly that I support the creation of a Palestinian state and am prepared for painful concessions in order to end the conflict. I will do my best to bring peace. Aready in 1988, in a meeting of the ministers of the Likud [party] if we do not want to be pushed back to the 1967 borders, we must come to the point of dividing the territory," Sharon said.

"I have learned that it is not possible to live by the sword forever. To my disappointment there is no relevant Palestinian partner for peace. Even former heads of state of this country who were ready for painful concessions were met with violence and terror from the other side. Arafat is walking the path of blood and the shaheeds (martyrs). He wants to turn a national conflict with a possible negotiated resolution into a war between Islam and Judaism which threatens Jews living far from here. The disengagement plan does not replace negotiations. Everything remains open to a negotiated agreement that will come when this vicious terrorism ends," Sharon said.

"The disengagement plan has built within it the possibility to open the door to a different reality. I want to tell our Arab neighbors: during the war of independence, during the battles, we penned our declaration of independence in which was said 'we call on the Arab people who are residents of the State of Israel to take part in the development of this land based on equal rights.' I call on the people of Israel to unite in this crucial and fateful hour, to allow all of us to display the understanding of a mutual shared fate. We need to find the things that bind us together.

 

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