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Rajoub: Palestinians recognize Israel in '67 borders

By Lili Galili, Haaretz Correspondent

A senior Palestinian official said the Palestinians recognize Israel's existence as a Jewish state within the 1967 borders, and do not aspire to change its demographic balance drastically.

The statement by Jibril Rajoub, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's national security adviser, appears to be the first reference by a senior Palestinian official to Israel as a Jewish state and to its demographic issue.

Rajoub was interviewed Monday for a new Geneva Initiative campaign, entitled "We have a partner." His direct reference to Israel as a Jewish state and to its demography took the Geneva Initiative people by surprise.

Rajoub and Yossi Beilin, one of the initiative's leaders, were filmed in the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem. The project was decided on by the Geneva Initiative's marketing and advertising man Dror Sternshos, following surveys indicating that although many people support the initiative, many do not believe there is a partner to an agreement with the Palestinians.

About 10 of the Geneva Initiative's most prominent officials and 10 senior Palestinian officials are scheduled to appear in short broadcasts, intended to persuade both sides that there is a partner.

The interviews with the Israeli speakers will be broadcast on the PA's official television channel, with Arafat's consent, on Arab television networks like Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, while the Palestinian spots will be screened in cinemas to Israeli audiences. The broadcast spots will also be shown in the only cinema in a settlement, located in Ariel.

"It's time to break the fixation from the days of Barak and Sharon, that there is no one to talk to,"
Gadi Blatiansky, Geneva Initiative staff director, told Haaretz.