U.S. President George W. Bush told Palestinian refugees Wednesday that they can forget about ever returning to their ancestral homes in what is now Israel.
Indicating a major shift in policy, Mr. Bush rejected the "right of return" for Palestinians uprooted and suggested that some of the land seized in later wars may be kept by Israel.
Leaving Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon beaming at a joint press conference in Washington, said it would be "unrealistic" for Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate based on the assumption of returning to 1949 armistice lines.
"The United States is strongly committed to Israel's security and well-being as a Jewish state. It seems clear that an agreed, just, fair and realistic framework for a solution to the Palestinian refugee issue as part of any final status agreement will need to be found through the establishment of a Palestinian state and the settling of Palestinian refugees there rather than Israel," he said.
U.S. President George W. Bush and Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon walk together after making a joint statement to reporters at the White House in Washington on Wednesday. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)
Related Articles
"In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli population centres, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949."
The U.S. President twice referred to Israel as a Jewish state, alluding to arguments that allowing millions of Palestinian refugees to return to their former homes would alter the fundamental character of the country.
"The realities on the ground and in the region have changed greatly in the last several decades," Mr. Bush said. "And any [political] settlement must take into account these realities."
Mr. Bush's position is significant because Israel seized the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war and has since settled hundreds of thousands of Israelis in their territories.
"Israel plans to remove certain military installations and all settlements from Gaza and certain military installations and settlements from the West Bank," he said. "These are historic and courageous actions. If all parties choose to embrace this moment they can open the door to progress and put an end to one of the world's longest-running conflicts."
Mr. Bush did not explicitly say that the United States supported Israel's keeping some of its large settlements on the West Bank — home to about a quarter million Israelis — but he endorsed Mr. Sharon's unilateral plan to withdraw the few thousand settlers from the Gaza Strip. He noted that some small Israeli settlements on the West Bank had been cleared.
Palestinian leaders, who demand a state in the entire West Bank and Gaza Strip, were quick to denounce Mr. Bush's speech.
"This is like someone giving a part of Texas's land to China," cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat told Associated Press.
