BICOM

Israeli President Shimon Peres, former-prime minister Ehud Olmert and former-foreign minister Tzipi Livni commended Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas following comments that he made regarding the rights of Palestinian refugees. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck a sceptical tone.

In an interview with Israel’s Channel Two on Friday, Abbas hinted at a possible softening stance over the issue of Palestinian refugees. Referring to his own personal story, having left the now northern Israeli town of Safed with his family during Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, Abbas said, “I visited Safed before once. But I want to see Safed. It’s my right to see it, but not to live there.”

The Palestinians have long demanded that Israel grant the ‘right of return’ for Palestinians to land and property situated in Israel that they or their families lived on prior to 1948. Israel has consistently rejected the demand as historically unprecedented and a calculated demographic threat to the Jewish State. Abbas’ comments were interpreted by many as a more flexible stance on the issue.

Israeli President Shimon Peres commented, “[His] courageous words prove that Israel has a real partner for peace.” Meanwhile, former-prime minister Ehud Olmert, who is mulling a political comeback said, “The interviews given by the Palestinian president over the past few days should prove to the Israeli public that we do have someone to talk to and we can negotiate.”

Echoing Olmert’s views, former-foreign minister Tzipi Livni, who has been mulling entering Israel’s election race with Olmert, said, “Whoever is interested in preserving a secure Jewish and democratic state, should embrace this interview.” She added, “These are the statements we heard in the negotiating room.” Like Olmert, she criticised Netanyahu’s government for “telling the public that there is no partner for peace.”

Netanyahu himself voiced scepticism, telling his cabinet yesterday, “I watched President Abbas’ interview at the weekend, and I heard that since then he has already managed to recant.”

As for Abbas, he was keen to clarify his comments, apparently backtracking on his original interview. He told Egypt’s al-Hayat TV yesterday, “Speaking about Safed was a personal position and it did not mean conceding the right of return.”