Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is on a three-day visit to the US aimed at getting American Jews behind his Gaza withdrawal plan. He meets Jewish leaders today in New York and then travels to Washington to deliver a policy speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the pro-Israel lobby. Referring to a flare-up of Palestinian violence in Gaza last week, Sharon repeated that the Palestinian Authority must dismantle terrorist groups. "There has to be total, complete quiet," he said. "Without quiet, it will be impossible to move forward in the peace process."