Obama sounds a warning for Israel
Source: Agencies |
May 23, 2011, Monday
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US President Barack Obama warned America's pro-Israel lobby yesterday that the Jewish state will face growing isolation without a credible Middle East peace process.
He defended his endorsement of a future Palestine based on Israel's 1967 boundaries but subject to negotiated land swaps as a public expression of long-standing United States policy.
Obama sought to alleviate concerns that his administration was veering in a pro-Palestinian direction by placing last Thursday's major Mideast policy speech in the context of Israel's security. He told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that the border lines he referred to reflected US thinking dating back to President Bill Clinton.
"If there's a controversy, then it's not based in substance," Obama said in Washington. "What I did on Thursday was to say publicly what has long been acknowledged privately. I have done so because we cannot afford to wait another decade, or another two decades, or another three decades, to achieve peace."
The event was eagerly anticipated after Obama outlined his vision for the changing Middle East on Thursday at the State Department and then clashed in a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday.
At the AIPAC meeting, Obama didn't back off from any of his remarks on what it would take to reach a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians. Repeating a large section of his Thursday speech, he said the result must be derived through negotiation, and that provisions must ensure Israeli border security and protection from acts of terrorism.
An Israeli withdrawal from territory should be followed by Palestinians taking responsibility for security in a nonmilitarized state.
"By definition, it means that the parties themselves - Israelis and Palestinians - will negotiate a border that is different than the one that existed on June 4, 1967," Obama said. That was before Israel seized the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
"It is a well-known formula to all who have worked on this issue for a generation," the US president said. "It allows the parties themselves to account for the changes that have taken place over the last 44 years, including the new demographic realities on the ground and the needs of both sides."
Obama made a big effort to soothe any fears about his commitment to Israel's security. He said US support for Israel's long-term security would never waver.
He defended his endorsement of a future Palestine based on Israel's 1967 boundaries but subject to negotiated land swaps as a public expression of long-standing United States policy.
Obama sought to alleviate concerns that his administration was veering in a pro-Palestinian direction by placing last Thursday's major Mideast policy speech in the context of Israel's security. He told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that the border lines he referred to reflected US thinking dating back to President Bill Clinton.
"If there's a controversy, then it's not based in substance," Obama said in Washington. "What I did on Thursday was to say publicly what has long been acknowledged privately. I have done so because we cannot afford to wait another decade, or another two decades, or another three decades, to achieve peace."
The event was eagerly anticipated after Obama outlined his vision for the changing Middle East on Thursday at the State Department and then clashed in a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday.
At the AIPAC meeting, Obama didn't back off from any of his remarks on what it would take to reach a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians. Repeating a large section of his Thursday speech, he said the result must be derived through negotiation, and that provisions must ensure Israeli border security and protection from acts of terrorism.
An Israeli withdrawal from territory should be followed by Palestinians taking responsibility for security in a nonmilitarized state.
"By definition, it means that the parties themselves - Israelis and Palestinians - will negotiate a border that is different than the one that existed on June 4, 1967," Obama said. That was before Israel seized the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
"It is a well-known formula to all who have worked on this issue for a generation," the US president said. "It allows the parties themselves to account for the changes that have taken place over the last 44 years, including the new demographic realities on the ground and the needs of both sides."
Obama made a big effort to soothe any fears about his commitment to Israel's security. He said US support for Israel's long-term security would never waver.
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