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Israeli Parliament Passes Bill on Palestinian Refugees
Israel's Knesset (parliament) passed Monday night a bill that could make it harder for the Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland.
The bill, submitted by the opposition Likud lawmaker Yossi Katz, passed its third and final reading by a vote of 56 to 12 in the 120-member Knesset. Its first reading was passed in November.
According to the new law, an absolute majority of 61 votes of the Knesset will be needed to authorize the return of Palestinian refugees to Israeli territory if an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is signed.
It allows the defense minister to authorize the return of Palestinian refugees to Israel only for humanitarian reasons.
The Palestinian refugee problem is one of the key blocks to a Palestinian-Israeli peace deal, with the latest U.S. peace proposals calling on the Palestinians to waive the return rights for the some 3.7 million refugees in return for their sovereignty over the Al Aqsa mosque compound and the Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.
But the Palestinian leadership has expressed deep reservations over the proposals. It demands Israel comply with U.N. Resolution 194, which recognizes the right of return of the Palestinian refugees displaced since the 1948 Mideast war, in settling the issue.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will go to Washington within hours for face-to-face talks with U.S. President Bill Clinton on the U.S. proposals.
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