Israel Matzav

'Myths and facts,' Obama style

Talk about disingenuous. This is from a section called Israel Myths and Facts at a site called Jewish Americans for Obama.

Myth: President Obama has put forward parameters that weaken the Israeli negotiating position including forcing Israel to return to the indefensible 1967 lines
Fact: President Obama insisted that the future border accommodate Israel’s security and demographic concerns; he conditioned any Israeli withdrawal from post-1967 territory on effectiveness of security arrangements.

 In his May 19 speech at the State Department5 and May 22 speech to the AIPAC
annual policy conference, President Obama insisted that Israel not be required to
return to the 1967 lines, and that any future border accommodate Israel’s security
and demographic concerns: “The parties themselves -- Israelis and Palestinians --
will negotiate a border that is different than the one that existed on June 4, 1967.”6
 The formulation of 1967 lines with agreed territorial swaps has been the working
assumption of every U.S. president and secretary of state since the 2000 Camp David negotiations, as well as former Israeli Prime Ministers Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak, Israel's most decorated soldier. 7
President Obama’s speeches clearly supported the importance of Israeli security in
any peace deal: “Every state has the right to self-defense, and Israel must be able to
defend itself -- by itself -- against any threat,” President Obama said. 8
 President Obama called for a non-militarized Palestinian state and stated that “the
full and phased withdrawal of Israeli military forces should be coordinated with the
assumption of Palestinian security responsibility in a sovereign, non-militarized
state. And the duration of this transition period must be agreed, and the
effectiveness of security arrangements must be demonstrated.”9

Myth: Obama is forcing Israel to give up Jerusalem or the Western Wall
Fact: President Obama has not made declarative statements about the final status of Jerusalem and he has repeated that resolution of the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be reached through direct bilateral negotiations between thetwo parties.
 President Obama believes that “it is up to the Israelis and Palestinians to take
action. No peace can be imposed upon them -- not by the United States; not by
anybody else.”10
 Obama recognizes the importance of Jerusalem to the Jewish state and during his
AIPAC speech said, “When I touched my hand against the Western Wall and placed
my prayer between its ancient stones, I thought of all the centuries that the children
of Israel had longed to return to their ancient homeland.” 11

If I hear that bit about Barak being 'Israel's most decorated soldier' again I'm going to puke. I think most Israelis would.

But it's important to point out again and again what Obama has done that is different than everyone else. What every President until Obama assumed (and particularly the last two) was that a final settlement would look something like the 1949 armistice lines with some changes to be agreed by the party. There was no assumption that the default position would be the 1967 lines and certainly no assumption that Israel would have to pay for anything it kept from across the 1949 armistice lines.

What Obama has done is to assume that the starting point - not the ending point - is the 1949 armistice lines (which he insists on calling the '1967 borders'). Any territory Israel wants beyond that - the Jewish quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, the Western Wall, the Jewish suburbs of Jerusalem built over the last 44 years, Gush Etzion, Maaleh Adumim, Givat Zev, would - in Obama's world - only be possible with the consent of the 'Palestinians' at a price to be negotiated with them (and maybe not even negotiated by Israel).

That's what Obama has done, and in doing so he has unrealistically raised 'Palestinian' expectations and hurt Israel more than any other President who came before him.

Labels: 1949 armistice lines, Barack Hussein Obama, Campaign 2012, Obama's obsession with Israel

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:04 PM