Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Tuesday that it would have been better if last summer's disengagement plan had included an extensive pullout from the West Bank, the Ha'aretz daily reported Wednesday.

While meeting with a small group of moderate settlers and leaders of the religious Zionist community, Olmert said that "the (internal) rift exists regardless of the size of the withdrawal, for that reason, a large step was needed from the beginning."

Last September, Israel withdrew from 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in the West Bank under the leadership of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Before the March 28 Israeli election, Olmert vowed to unilaterally fix Israel's final borders by 2010 through the so- called convergence plan, under which Israel would withdraw from isolated settlements in the West Bank while keeping major ones.

However, a poll showed that half of those surveyed categorically denounced any future unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank, while 41 percent of Israelis favored the further withdrawal plan.

Source: Xinhua