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| US Envoy George Mitchell
[Ma'anImages] |
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – A demand that Palestinians recognize Israel “as the state of the Jewish people” as a condition for resuming peace negotiations is unacceptable to the US, the State Department said this weekend.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz, quoting statements from the State Department, indicated that the US would not back Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand for this recognition.
The US released these statements during a visit by Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell. Mitchell met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after meeting Israeli leaders.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) recognized “the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security.” In return, Israel did not recognize an independent Palestinian state but rather acknowledged the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinians.
Palestinian negotiators have rejected this demand for recognition of Israel as a “Jewish state” because Israel conceives of its Jewish nature in terms of its Jewish majority. This, in turn, would preclude the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in what is now Israel.
Some 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from Palestine during the 1948-49 war that saw the creation of Israel. Today more than 4.6 million UN-registered Palestinian refugees live throughout the Middle East and elsewhere.
The fate of the refugees is one of the “final status issues” that has still to be negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians.
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