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Palestinians Hint Revision in Strategy
(Chicago Tribune) - A document distributed to State Department officials by a Palestinian delegation in Washington this week hints at a radical new tactic: dropping their longstanding demand for an independent Palestinian state and instead seeking full citizenship within Israel. Demographic trends indicate that the number of Arabs in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip will exceed the number of Jews within a decade, meaning that Israel could not grant all Palestinians citizenship without jeopardizing its identity as a Jewish state. Bush administration officials said they were startled by the Palestinian suggestion and immediately balked at its implications. Said one administration official who saw the Palestinian document, "If you buy into it, you're basically buying into the destruction of Israel."