RAMALLAH – The hawkish Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman expressed his rejection of the return of Palestinian refugees even to any future Palestinian state, a report said on Saturday. The Israeli Radio quoted Lieberman as saying during Friday's meeting with visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry that even if an agreement was reached, various Arab countries currently hosting Palestinian refugees would want to send the some three million people to the independent Palestinian territories, which would create “a very difficult humanitarian situation.” The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said recently that the Palestinian refugees in the world reached 5.3 million by the end of 2012. They are dependent on UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). Lieberman is the most prominent politician in the so-called “Russian” sector, of Israelis who immigrated from the former Soviet Union. His party, Yisrael Beiteinu, merged with Likud in the lead-up to the last elections. The Israeli minister warned that that such a move would cause frustration, violence and a deterioration of security if the Palestinian infrastructure could not handle such a mass influx of people. “Any agreement between Israel and the Palestinians must be based on a solid foundation of security for Israel and a stable economy for the Palestinians,” Lieberman said. The right of return is one of the thorniest issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinian Authority (PA) said that the issue of refugees will be included in the peace talks with Israel. Israel rejects the idea of Palestinian refugees' right of return to their original homes in the 1948 areas in accordance with the UN General Assembly Resolution 194, saying that in any future peace solution, they can only return to their independent state, which will be established in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israel fears that a massive influx would threaten the Jewish majority in the country, which now counts some 8 million of whom some 1.6 million Arab Palestinians. The Palestinians say that in the summer of 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled their homes after armed Jewish guerrillas stormed their villages and forced them to leave after hundreds of them were slaughtered. The Palestinian leadership holds Israel politically, legally and morally responsible for the acts of killing, destruction and displacing against the refugees. It says that their issue will be included in the peace talks with Israel. On Friday, Kerry met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah Friday evening to discuss a framework agreement that will address the outlines of a final peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Palestinian sources said that Abbas and Kerry, who arrived in the region Thursday, are expected to meet again on Saturday. Kerry met with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday and Friday. As of yet, no concrete details of the framework agreement proposed by the US have come to light. Kerry is asking both leaders to start making tough, highly political decisions in hopes of narrowing differences and agree on a framework that will outline a final peace pact. The goal is for the framework, or series of guidelines, to address all core issues, including borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state, Palestinian refugees and conflicting claims to the holy city of Jerusalem. No agreement on a framework is likely during Kerry's visit. The Israeli Channel 10 television quoted senior government sources as saying that Netanyahu intends to put the framework agreement to a cabinet vote, a move which may find stiff opposition in the government. For their part, the Palestinians said that they wouldn't pay attention to a “worthless” framework agreement presented by the US. Yasser Abed Rabbo, the Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee, said in a statement that the plan “biased towards Israel” and said it restricted Palestinian sovereignty in the West Bank. Abed Rabbo said that “the Palestinian side will not even look at a worthless piece of paper, a framework agreement, which contains general principles for later negotiations, when the two sides have already been negotiating for months and years.” He added that Kerry was now asking the Palestinians to agree to negotiations with Israel over a new accord, which, he claimed, gives the Israelis control over the Jordan Valley and restricts Palestinian sovereignty over Palestinian territories. The PLO's official stressed that the only way to achieve a breakthrough is by drawing full borders between a Palestinian state and Israel, on the basis of the pre-1967 lines – including East Jerusalem.
