Israel PM counters US demands on peace process
May-27-2011

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday was to outline his views on reviving the peace process before the US Congress after rejecting White House demands for a settlement based on 1967 borders.
In a speech before a powerful Israel lobbying group late Monday in Washington, the prime minister again vowed not to withdraw to the "indefensible" frontiers and blamed the Palestinians for the failure to resolve the decades-old conflict.
"This conflict has raged for nearly a century because the Palestinians refuse to end it. They refuse to accept the Jewish state," he said to applause from more than 10,000 of Israel's staunchest supporters in the United States.
"We can only make peace with the Palestinians if they are prepared to make peace with the Jewish state. (On Tuesday) I will speak more about what such a peace could look like."
His remarks came amid a public spat with President Barack Obama who had for the first time given public voice to the long-held US view that a Palestinian state be created based on the borders that existed before the 1967 Six Day War.
Such a state would include the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank and mostly Arab but Israel-annexed east Jerusalem, with some adjustments so that Israel can maintain settlement blocs.
Obama held to his position in his own speech to the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on Sunday, but made it clear the land swaps ensured Israel would not have to return to the actual border lines.
Netanyahu stood firm but continued to try to smooth over the feud, telling AIPAC that Obama had an "ironclad" commitment to Israel's security and thanking him for funding Israel's advanced missile interceptor system.
But there was also another message to the US president implicit in the roars of approval from the 11,000 AIPAC delegates and the attendance of 68 Senators and nearly 270 members of the House: Don't push Israel too far.

Read the rest of the article right HERE!

Posted by Ken at 4:50 AM - Link to this entry  |  Share this entry  |  Print