Peres:Refugee return,demographic suicide

Zionist regime's army radio reported on Thursday that the Israeli President, Shimon Peres, had said that the return of Palestinian refugees to their homes in the 1948 occupied areas will constitute "demographic suicide for Israel".

Peres objected to the return of refugees during a meeting with Ambassadors of the EU saying that their return will mean that Israel will no longer be a 'state.'

He added that the Jewish majority is the guarantee for the existence of Israel and that allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes will mean an end to the "Israeli identity".

He declared his utter rejection of the return of even one Palestinian refugee to his home in 1948 occupied Palestine.

Peres suggested that if refugees were to be allowed to return they should only be allowed to return to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Alternatively, the international community should compensate them and settle them in Arab countries, he opined.