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Israeli Foreign Minister: How Will the West Bank Absorb 3 Million Palestinians?
(Jerusalem Post) Herb Keinon - Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday that since the Oslo accords, some 10,000 Palestinians have moved inside Israel, and another 100,000 Palestinians have moved into the West Bank. He said it is important to think about the day after an agreement. "Imagine an independent Palestinian state that does not need to ask our consent to absorb Palestinian [refugees], and can issue sovereign Palestinian identity cards as it wishes." There are another 3 million Palestinians in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon who, immediately with the declaration of a Palestinian state, will either want to move to the new state or be forced by their host countries to do so. "Will the economy in the West Bank...be able to absorb 3 million additional Palestinians? Where will they live? What will they eat? Where will they work? And how will that impact on Israel?" "Will an agreement with the Palestinians bring an end to pressure on Israel?" he asked. Or "will they continue to attack us on issues such as the Bedouin in the Negev or strengthening Jewish settlement in the Galilee?" There are those in the international community who "don't intend to let us rest for a minute, and not give us any credit for any agreement with the Palestinians, but rather immediately will go on the attack." Lieberman praised Secretary of State John Kerry for his tireless efforts to reach an accord and expressed appreciation to Kerry for being extremely clear about the need for Israel to be recognized as a Jewish state and to have its security needs met.