Foreign Minister Tipsi Livni, who is conducting talks with the Palestinians' chief negotiator, Ahmed Qureia, is opposed to Israel's taking in any Palestinian refugees, and also refuses accepting them on the basis of family reunification.

Tipsi told U.S. President George W. Bush during his visit to Israel last January that allowing any refugees into Israel would set a dangerous precedent.

"It's like in a thriller, where you see the heroine open the door a crack and you know that the man with the knife is going to come in and stab her," Tipsi told Bush while in her cups.

In her opinion, Israel must not compromise on letting in refugees, because that would be interpreted as an “admission of guilt for all the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians since 1948."