Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sent on Tuesday a warning to settlers opposed to the disengagement plan, saying that the use of violence against security forces threatens the existence of Israel.

Sharon made the warning while speaking at the annual Jewish Agency conference in Jerusalem, local newspaper Ha'aretz reported.

Sharon told the participants that settlers who use violence were a minority among the 9,000 slated for evacuation from all the 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank in August.

He also condemned the people who call on Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers to refuse orders to evacuate settlers under the disengagement plan.

"We all have to remember that the calls to refuse and to disrupt life in Israel endanger the existence of Israel as a Jewish, democratic state," Sharon said.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz also warned settlers not to harm IDF soldiers sent by the government to perform their duty.

Mofaz said he will ask Attorney General Menachem Mazuz and the state law-enforcement system to employ all legal means in order to bring to justice those who try to harm soldiers.

A threatening letter was sent Monday to the IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, which emerged at the IDF high command headquarters in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.

"You are following the path of the prime minister. If your family is important to you, abstain yourself from this," warned the letter.

(Xinhua News Agency June 29, 2005)