Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech
For those who are interested, a full English-language transcript of Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech on Sunday night may be found here (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).Here's the full speech in Hebrew with simultaneous translation. Let's go to the videotape.
It goes without saying that the 'Palestinians' were not pleased with Netanyahu's speech and accused him of 'burying' the 'peace process.'
Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah expressed outrage and shock on Sunday over Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's call for the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state and his demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.The criticisms of Netanyahu read like a who's who of 'Palestinian' politics. Read the whole thing.
The officials said that the speech that Netanyahu delivered at Bar-Ilan University was much worse than they had expected.
They also warned that Netanyahu's policies would trigger a new intifada.
Some of PA President Mahmoud Abbas's top advisers accused Netanyahu of "burying the peace process" and said the ball was now in the court of US President Barack Obama.
"Netanyahu's speech is a blow to Obama before it's a blow to the Palestinians and Arabs," an Abbas aide said. "It's obvious, in the aftermath of this speech, that we are headed toward another round of violence and bloodshed."
I don't know what the 'Palestinians' were expecting. The demand that they recognize Israel as a Jewish state is not new, nor is the expectation that Jerusalem would remain undivided even if the 'Palestinian' capitol were to be located there. As to demilitarization, which I believe is what really angered them more than anything else, even Ehud Barak in 2000 spoke of a demilitarized state.
As to the threats of violence, all that proves is that the 'Palestinians' were never willing to compromise in the first place and were never willing to accept anything other than their own dictated, maximalist demands. They need to be reminded that they have lost every war that they have started.
I doubt most Israelis will be concerned by 'Palestinian' threats of violence. We are used to them. Like spoiled children, the 'Palestinians' react with threats and temper tantrums every time they don't get what they want. And unlike 2000, this time Israel is in an advantageous military position because it is still in and around the 'Palestinian' cities.
The speech was not designed for the 'Palestinians' - it was to satisfy President Obama. Whether it did remains to be seen.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:52 AM
4 Comments:
As it stands, any fair-minded person can argue the Palestinians need to work for a state and make compromises. Israel is demanding from them very little for peace and their outraged reaction shows they are not ready to be a partner now. Perhaps someday, that will change.
And who cares what His Royal Whatever Hussein thinks (or what his satraps want)? As you always point out, the US ain't a superpower anymore, and their word is now worthless. Those puling, whiny Palithug babies will run to Ya Baba Hussein for protection. Israel and the Jewish People have the right to call the shots in their (our) historic homeland - Palithug interlopers be damned.
Netanyahu gave a cogent and mature response to Hussein's puerile, tautological exercise in Arab and Islamofascist propaganda. For this alone he deserves praise. All the rest is simply "nuance".
I thought it was a very good speech, and smart with it. Nothing that Netanyahu asked for was unreasonable, and the responses of the Palestinians throw their UN-reasonableness into sharp relief. No-one can miss it. But whether this gets reported fairly in the MSM internationally remains to be seen.
Well done Bibi.
One has to differentiate between the Arabs citizens of Israel and the so-called Palestinians who are still holding passports and IDs of the artificial State of Jordan.
I mentioned that a hundred times... the cheapest and the most pragmatic way to solve the Arab Israeli confrontation is (a) return the Jordanian Passport Holders to their so-called home 'Jordan'... (b)The rest will have the opportunity as in the USA to swear allegiance to the flag of Israel or leave for any country of their choice. Israel should be in a position to caters to Israelis ONLY be it Arabs, Jews, Druze or any other minorities that have sworn allegiance to Israel!
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