Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is in the US, where he has been rallying support for the Gaza pullout among American Jewish leaders. "We are going to leave Gaza completely," Sharon told fund-raisers in New York. He said Israel is prepared to pull out of the volatile Philadelphia Corridor, if Egypt prevents weapons smuggling to terrorists in Gaza (something Egypt has failed to do until now). At the same time, Sharon reiterated that Israel will hold on to three major settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria. "We will take Ma’ale Adumim and we will take Gush Etzion and we will take Ariel," he said. "They are going to stay in the hands of Israel forever and ever."