An outline Middle East peace agreement being drawn up by John Kerry will propose recognising Israel as a Jewish state, according to a leaked report, in a development that represents a major coup for the Israeli leadership but which risks an outright Palestinian rejection.
Mr Kerry, the US secretary of state, has overridden vocal Palestinian objections in stipulating that Israel's Jewish character should be an explicit part of a final status accord, the conservative Israeli newspaper, Maariv reported.
He is expected to present a copy of the so-called framework agreement to Benjamin Netanyahu when the Israeli prime minister visits Washington early next month to meet President Barack Obama and address the annual conference of AIPAC, America's most influential pro-Israel lobby group. European diplomats are said to have warned that the Palestinians will perceive the document as biased in Israel's favour and are unlikely to accept it.
The document – which has been several weeks in the making – will term Israel as "the nation-state of the Jewish people", according to Maariv, citing a US source. Under Mr Kerry's peace plan, it would exist alongside Palestine, which would be the "nation-state of the Palestinian people".
In another concession to Israel, the document will propose a peace deal along pre-1967 borders but with land swaps that take account of "demographic changes" on the ground – a phrase the Palestinians dismiss as designed to enable the Israelis to keep settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.