News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) President Shimon Peres spoke to British Members of Parliament on Thursday and told them Israel was prepared to give most of Judea and Samaria to the Palestinian Authority. However, it will be difficult for Israel to dismantle Jewish towns in the area without causing a civil war, he said. Up to 250,000 Israelis live in the areas slated for return to the PA, he said, and forcibly evicting them without causing a war would be “an art.”

Peres made similar statements at a speech at Oxford University. His speech was interrupted several times by hecklers, who accused him of war crimes and of starving residents of Gaza. “You know, it's not too bad to open the ears and open the eyes and keep the mouths for a later occasion,” Peres remarked as one heckler was dragged from the hall by security. The crowd responded with laughter and applause.