‘Pullout is essential for Israel’s future’

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in a televised speech yesterday that the Gaza pullout is a painful step, both for the nation and for himself, but that it is essential for Israel’s future.

A grim-looking Mr Sharon said it is now up to the Palestinians to clamp down on militants and stop violence. “To an outstretched hand we will respond with an olive branch,” he said.

For most of his political career, Mr Sharon had led Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank and Gaza. As recently as two years ago, he said Israel would not give up even small, isolated Gaza settlements.