Executive Summary:
• A fifty year old Muslim religious edict has been resurrected which offers a chance of a religious breakthrough in Arab‐Israeli relations.
• The Fatwa recognizes the existence of Israel as a fait accompli similar to other lands where Muslims formerly ruled. In doing so, it rejects the Palestinian “Right of Return” and in turns calls for equal right for Palestinian refugees in Arab countries.
• The Fatwa offers an alternative theological viewpoint countering the mainstream line of theological rejection of Israel and it can have implications beyond this specific case study in terms of Islamic attitudes towards territories that were previously conquered by Muslims.