11:0AM CST posted

Israeli Cabinet Decides Not to Allow Arab Israelis to Return to Pre-1948 Villages

By Laurie Copans Associated Press Writer

Published: Oct 10, 2001

JERUSALEM (AP) - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Cabinet decided Wednesday not to allow families from two Arab villages evacuated during the 1948 Mideast war to return despite residents' claims they were promised at the time they could go back. The Supreme Court is slated to rule in the coming weeks on the case, which has been pending for years. First the court will hear arguments from attorneys for the state based on the Cabinet decision.

Last year, the court asked the previous government of Ehud Barak to make a decision on the issue, but Barak was voted out of office in February before deciding.

Sharon opposed the return of the families for fear it would be seen as a precedent for some 4 million Palestinian refugees, who demand they be allowed to return to homes they were driven from or abandoned during the war.

The refugee issue was a major point of contention in peace talks that broke down last year under the government of Barak, who was ousted in a February election.

The residents of the villages of Ikrit and Baram said they were very disappointed by the Cabinet decision after years of waiting. Barak's government had indicated it would approve the return of the families to the communities, whose ruins are located along Israel's northern border.

"We are very, very frustrated by this decision and the degrading way we have been treated," said Tuama Ihsan, the head of a committee of village residents.

The residents live inside Israel and are Israeli citizens, but have not been allowed to return to their prewar communities.

Yossi Beilin, justice minister under Barak, said Sharon was breaking a promise made by Jewish forces, who told the Arabs in these two villages in 1948 that they would be allowed to return after a few days.

Beilin said a decision in favor of the residents would not have constituted a precedent for other Palestinian refugees. The case of residents in Ikrit and Baram was unusual, because they received an explicit promise that they could return.

Palestinians demand that refugees and their descendants, who number about 4 million according to U.N. figures, be allowed to return to homes in areas now under Israeli control. Most of the refugees live in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, as well as the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Israel Koenig, an official with the Interior Ministry, said no promise of return had ever been given to the families in Ikrit and Baram.

Wednesday's decision comes at a time of tensions between Jewish and Arab Israelis. Thirteen Arab Israeli citizens were killed in anti-government riots last fall.

Arab Israelis account for more than 1 million of Israel's 6.5 million citizens.

AP-ES-10-10-01 1112EDT

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2001