News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) In a unanimous vote on Saturday, the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee decided to reject an Israeli request that the Palestinian Authority recognize Israel as a “Jewish state.”  While Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he will negotiate with the PA without such recognition, other ministers have called for recognition of Israel as Jewish to be a precondition for further talks.

Many see the recognition request as opposing Arab demands that millions of foreign Arab descendants of those who fled Israel during the War of Independence be granted Israeli citizenship.  The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee said Saturday that recognition of Israel as Jewish would make things worse for Arab Israelis and would “hinder the realization of the Palestinian refugees' Right of Return."