Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said September 19 that the United States had agreed to accept some 100,000 Palestinian refugees within the framework of an eventual Middle East peace deal. Washington had agreed to absorb and give citizenship to 100,000 refugees, while Israel would accept less than 20,000, Israeli media quoted Olmert as telling a conference. “The numbers discussed were below 20,000, but this would require an end to the conflict and a Palestinian announcement that they would not make any more demands,” the Ynet website quoted him as saying. The issue of Palestinian refugees is expected to be one of the thorniest issues in the renewed direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that resumed in the United States at the beginning of the month. The Palestinians want Israel to recognise the “right of return” of the Palestinians who fled or were expelled when the Jewish state was created in 1948. With their descendants, they number 4.7 million people. Israel rejects the demand, saying they should be accommodated within a Palestinian state.
US TO TAKE 100,000 PALESTINIAN REFUGEES, ISRAEL LESS THAN 20,000
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said September 19 that the United States had agreed to accept some 100,000 Palestinian refugees within the framework of an eventual Middle East peace deal.
